Now I understand what has been playing out in this CSU issue case. While I have made my positions known about this CSU case, I have also followed up contrary opinions in support of Tinubu and I try to reason along and connect the dots. I choose never to be closed-minded.
That I chose a position yesterday does not mean I can not change it when superior argument arises.
I previously wrote about the integrity, credibility and consistency of Educational certificates from the side of how we as Nigerians were groomed. Nigeria, like many other former British colonies, has historically followed British standards more closely than American standards due to its historical ties with the United Kingdom. The British Standard is stricter than the American standard and from my observation of what is playing out in the Chicago State University certificates based on the court deposition by the Registrar, it is evident that their Certificates do not maintain any standard nor really consider the integrity or the credibility values that ought to characterize certificates.
According to the CSU Registrar, Caleb Westberg, the Chicago State University (CSU), does not typically keep diplomas. He also said that when there is a replacement diploma, βit is done by outside vendorsβ.
The British and American standards are different and owing to the fact that Nigeria was colonized by the British, we inherited many aspects of their culture, including the legal and educational systems, governance structures, and language.
It is this mindset we have been using to judge Tinubu on this certificate issue. I had also used the strict mindset to analyze this case before but on reading the deposition made by the school registrar, I now understand better.
Education in Nigeria has been influenced by the British system. The Nigerian educational system was modeled after the British system, and many Nigerian universities still follow the British higher education curriculum. English is the official language of Nigeria, and it is widely spoken and used in education, business, and government.
We think and reason like the British and as such think all countries operate like the British. I will admit that this is lack of exposure on our part. I take no exception.
The Registrar of CSU has admitted and confirmed that they do not really give any strict policy over their replacement certificates and such can be gotten from recognized vendors, an approach Tinubu used and the Registrar did not fault it as it seems to be a normal thing for them in the United States.
Now, it is established that Tinubu did not pick up a copy of his CSU replacement certificate directly from CSU but used one of the vendors. Based on the deposition by the Registrar, the act was in order and it is allowed as long as he truly attended and graduated from their institution.
The Registrar, Caleb admitted that Atiku's Lawyer, Enahoro picked up the copy of Tinubu's certificate with them while Tinubu picked his probably from one of the vendors.
The Registrar admitted that the Tinubu who attended and graduated with honors from their school was a male, and now the President of Nigeria. He was confident because Tinubu wasn't a commonly used name in the US and as such very easy to identify.
He said whatever discrepancy there was in the copy with Atiku would have been a mistake and anyone can make a typographical error.
Now, while everyone saw the Female gender recorded for Tinubu in the South West College record, the Social Security Number (SSN) which is a Unique identifier entered on that same document matched with the SSN on Tinubu's CSU certificate and it belongs to Bola Ahmed Tinubu, a male.
I am very conversant with Unique numbers as I have worked as a codifier. I've dealt with manufacturers Part numbering and modelling system and their codes are unique. I have written database programs and automatically generated ID numbers which are unique and used as the Primary Keys. For the SSN to be consistent and match the same Tinubu, I can clearly tell you anytime any day that the Female gender recorded for Tinubu in the South West College records was a typographical error.
In your company, no two employees would have the same ID number.
In the United States of America, no two (2) citizens have the same SSN. Duplicate or shared SSNs would cause significant administrative issues and lead to identity confusion. Therefore, the Social Security Administration takes measures to ensure that each SSN is unique to a single individual
For the age discrepancy, the Registrar admitted that it must have been made in error, and he insisted that it was the same Tinubu who attended the South West College that also attended the CSU and that the courses taken by Tinubu at South West College were what he also took at CSU. He admitted that South West College was a feeder for CSU. Is it not age reduction that's so common amongst us? Why was Tinubu's age in the form he submitted in INEC form higher than what was in his CSU records? It's simple to realize that he might have made a mistake in one of them.
I am now more clarified on this issue. Yesterday I wrote that CSU should apologize to us but on reading the deposition, I now realized CSU doesn't owe us an apology, I and many others did not look beyond our standards, we just assumed every country follow the British strict standard of doing things.
Based on my understanding of the whole issue now, I apologize to those who were ahead of me. But you should also commend me for not being closed minded. *smiles*
Let's agree to disagree, then disagree to agree.
What I noticed is one of our major problems on social media is that we are clustered in different groups and as we get affiliated to this group, we find it very difficult to reason or think independently. We enclose ourselves in an echo chamber and shut out any contrary views otherwise if we decide to pave way to reason, our group members would drag us to filth.
Be an independent thinker, do not let anybody think for you. Think for yourselves. It is time everyone comes out from their echo chamber and contribute to issues based on sound and logical reasoning, not based on what any influencer says.
If I had belonged to any camp, honestly I wouldn't have been able to express my independent view and I wouldn't have been able discover lot of truths because my group members wouldn't give me the freedom to think rationally.
I would appreciate if this post is retweeted so many others who have read my previous views concerning this CSU issue also see this position based on a recent finding.
One of the basic principles of Science is that whenever a superior argument is presented, you must be willing to change your position. You are not a wood.
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