Fake degrees, almajiri and Nigeria’s underdevelopment

The issue of almajiri is very much with us.

The issue of fake degrees originating from southern Nigeria, like COVID-19 is also very much with us.

The issue of underdevelopment of Nigeria as a top member of the third world with noise makers, and with the highest number of the Black race but with nothing to show in human development index, is frightening.

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The issue of our Muslim brothers that western education has implanted inferiority complex in also needs to be understood.

The fact remains that it is through Islamic religion and education, its light and ladder that Europe was transformed and brought out of darkness to light but it is being suppressed by the imperialists.

Whether anyone likes it or not, modern or western education has its roots and foundations from Islamic universities, Muslim scholars, scientists and thinkers beginning over 1400 years ago. (My next piece will go in to that).

Since November 2019 and fired by Gambo Dori’s article, I have followed the trend where the atmosphere is been bombarded from columnists of Daily Trust to include Jamila and co, DT editorials in the daily and Sunday including news items carried on the paper.

I have made photocopies of them. I should like this sensitive issue to be left open for public debate and that the blame game should expose also the southerner’s weakness and incompetence that have made Nigeria underdeveloped despite the bogus degrees and exposure in Europe, US etc.

The profiling of the almajiri by the “I too know”, was orchestrated from especially the enclaves of the republics of “Biafra” and “Oduduwa” most claiming largely bogus degrees since 1960.

Many other Nigerian Muslims, Christians and animists with Oyibo slave mentality are part of the bandwagon.

Instead of development, the only agenda on the table is stealing directly and indirectly from the public treasury in frauds entrenched by bogus degree holders profiling almajiri and northerners with Hijab even if a professor.

Since October 1960, despite being blessed with the resources, Nigerians have lived with the endemic or is it “pandemic” lack of water, electricity and basic infrastructure.

We need real “HARD TALK” as in the BBC rather than the blame game.

My wife and humble self have been to India but she twice more and she wonders that, though there is huge population and dirt in India and ghettos, yet Mumbai is a sh_t hole like Ajegunle.

They have water and electricity.

In India, the number of destitute, worse than almajiri, exceeds the Nigerian population.

But if any blackout, it is rare in Mumbai as opposed to the case in Nigeria where even in Ikoyi, VI, Asokoro and the “flashy” areas of Ikeja, residents scandalously live on gens because of fake degrees mentality.

The scandalous schemes to sustain the sale of generators and fake spare parts and endless dependence on sales of imported petrol by cabals have come to stay.

These parasites are worse than the almajiri.

The multibillion dollar refinery  projects will never work and remain white elephant projects.

When a Nigerian is sick with blood sugar or water in the heart he will suffer in the hands of Nigerian consultant/professors who will never identify the cause but will keep him on all sorts of drugs till he dies or is lucky enough to travel to India or elsewhere.

If opportune to go to India within 48 hours the problem is identified and you see the hopeless case smiling.

The almajiri is on his own and invariably does not control the ATMs of fake degree holders.

In 1985 my wife could fill the tank of her Beetle with only N7 but now it will be N7,000 or 1000 times more.

In 1988 we bought a gas filled cylinder at just N6 in Ikoyi, Lagos.

Today, Nigerians pay about N4,800 per cylinder.

Imagine 800 times at present value!

Yet the brains of the fake degree holders, would rather profile the almajiri.  One is not saying almajiri is an acceptable condition.

However, India if it were to be wailing and crying and pointing at the destitute how could it have solved its “mother India” problems.

India, with twice or thrice the population of almajiri including the abandoned child witches in the south and the osu of Igbo caste system, is a nuclear power.

India produces all the basic and high tech needs like drugs, hospital equipment, cars, trucks, earth moving equipment etc. India is an emerging economy next to China and a net exporter to Nigeria.

The existence of almajiri does not stop the Igbo or Yoruba or any other Nigerian to have invented Twitter or WhatsApp.

Why are the Nigerian fake degree holders only eating crumbs?

The first Oyibo school was built in 1843 in Badagry, Lagos.

Yet after 177 years, what is there to show to the world that such early start by the Yoruba in “western education” has been beneficial in the world development index.

The Lagos-Ogun axis industries are nothing other than the screwdriver industries that lack 20% local content capacity.

They are in the main conduit pipes to drain scarce FX. The catalogue of incompetences are endless.

Other Nigerians will welcome the fake degree holders to create enterprises and world class global companies like Ford, Du Pont, Bill Gates, Benz, Daimler, Toyota, Honda and Chinese upstarts?

Despite the profiling, it is from Kano, the centre of almajiri that we have the richest black man in the person of Dangote.

Nigerians have more scammers as stated by former US JCS Colin Powell and that majority are Nigerians not almajiri; almost all the scammers are from the fake degrees southern states.

The bane of our underdevelopment arises most from the fake degree holders with no competencies in creating a healthy economy and a vibrant civil service to propel Nigeria to greater heights.

Rather it is “na from my office I go chop” since the days of Lugard.

The “na from my office I go chop” syndrome destroyed the public institutions like the railway, airways, ECN to NEPA to PHCN, NNOC to NNPC, Post office, Ports Authority, CBN, Ajaokuta a big conduit pipe to siphon wealth by fake degree holders.

It was not the almajiri. Let us sit and address those responsible for the underdevelopment of Nigeria from the list of the  technocrats involved in the bureaucracy at the federal service.

The southwest gained technical aids from the embassies in Lagos up to and before the capital moved out of Lagos.

More than 80% beneficiaries were from and remain from the O states.

How many almajiri benefitted other than the Yoruba and mid-west in the last 40 years after Nigerian independence.

In the privatisation and commercialisation of 1972 with Awo as finance minister under Gowon, 80% beneficiaries were and remain Yoruba.

The decisions and key benefits from job employments, contractors, skill acquisition from all the oil companies with headquarters in Lagos and the secretaries of the CEOs and all key management staff are Yoruba and ended up with Yoruba domination.

In 1968, at Government College Keffi an Indian teacher was transferred from Ibadan.

The practice was that WAEC papers were accompanied to the examination hall with a police guard and the sealed papers were opened in front of all.

When he saw that, he said but that was not the practice in Ibadan.

These facts were proven when the NYSC scheme was established. In all the southern states, our NYSC members saw the widespread fraud and were even threatened to teach the students answers to questions ab initio.

So, what is the profiling of almajiri about when the fake degrees is public knowledge with the southerners. If you point these facts to them, their answer is without shame have you “caught me”.

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