The Registrar of University of Ibadan wrote:
IMPLICATIONS OF SENATOR DINO MELAYE'S
APPEARANCE IN AN ACADEMIC GOWN ON THE
FLOOR OF NIGERIA SENATE YESTERDAY ON OUR
EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM :[font=Lucida Sans Unicode][/font]
The Nigerian academic community yesterday,
suffered its worse insult in history courtesy of Sen
Melaye's appearance on the floor of Nigeria
Senate. Perhaps in a bid to prove that he
graduated from ABU, Dino Melaye decided to do
the unthinkable by wearing academic gown.Many
of us may see Dino Melaye's appearance in an
academic gown as insignificant and not worthy of
note. However, I strongly disagree on the
following reasons.
To set the records straight, Dino's appearance
yesterday is an affront on anyone who has ever
studied hard to pass exams. And I am a bit
surprised that ASUU & members of the academia
haven't called him out to demand an apology
based on the following reasons. All known
University statues clearly spels out the conditions
when an academic gown can be worn, during
matriculation and convocations.
To begin with, Dino Melaye appeared in the wrong
outfit, because he was putting on a ceremonial
academic gown meant for the senior faculty
members. So Dino's first desecration of the
academic community was to mock the same
system he claims to have many degrees from. He
disgraced THEM!
I wonder what was going on in the mind of the
VC of ABU when he saw him in a gown. He must
have felt betrayed and unforgiving of his defence
of Dino, but beyond the euphoria generated by
Dino's appearance in a gown are two serious
issues:
Who's a Senator and when does a Senator
become distinguished?
What does Dino Melaye's mockery of the Nigerian
academic community tell us as a people given his
position as a Senator of the Federal Republic of
Nigeria ? Two things readily come to mind here:
It is either a Senate of Law breakers or a Senate
filled with Comedians. If not...
What does that tell us as a people?
We are being represented by a group of people
who can't differentiate their left from their right.
Dino Melaye's inability to differentiate between a
ceremonial and an academic gown also confirms
the quality of his thinking and mind.
And more importantly, it leads us to question
whether Dino Melaye actually had a 3rd class as
he claims. Because if he indeed does, he would
know that academic gowns, ceremonial or not are
not to be worn outside the fours walls of an
academic environment.
This leads us by now, we can see clearly the
nexus between Dino's bastardization of the
University system and his false claim to be a
graduate of London School of Economics and
Harvard. LSE and Harvard have since gone ahead
to dismiss his claim of having their degrees.
Harvard in particular said he only attended a one
week course. LSE couldn't even find Dino
Melaye's name on their database. The same way
his name can't be found on ABU's convocation &
Alumni list.
So I ask; for how long would we continue to elect
misfits & liars like Dino Melaye into positions of
authority in this country?How many more of Dino
Melaye are we going to continue to live with as a
people? At what point are Nigerians going to stop
electing crooks? And for how long will this
madness continue in our Polity?