A Professor of Mass Communication and Dean, Faculty of Social Sciences, Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye, Professor Dele Odunlami, has attributed the latest scandal rocking the Michael and Cecilia Ibru University, MCIU, to lack of due diligence by the proprietors of the institution.
Prof. Odunlami stated this while reacting to the suspension of the Pro-Chancellor of the university, Anthony Kila, over questions surrounding his academic qualifications and professorial status.
He said it was most unlikely for such an embarrassment to happen in public universities where due process and academic audit are entrenched, noting that private university proprietors must engage tested and trusted consultants in the education sector to search for renowned academics of acknowledged pedigree to head their institutions.
According to Prof. Odunlami, in this age of technological advancement, the world has become integrated and compact for easy investigation, intelligence and information sharing, such that a scandal of that magnitude should not have escaped scrutiny right under the nose of the university management.
The don further blamed Nigerians' unchecked preference for bogus foreign certifications at the expense of sound local human capital, saying the mentality continues to make Nigerians victims of pseudo intellectuals and conmen who take advantage of the vulnerable psychology of citizens as title and certificate crazy people.
He recalled that MCIU had last week suspended Kila as Pro-Chancellor following a PREMIUM TIMES investigation which revealed that his claim to professorship and his degrees from Università per Stranieri, University of Essex, City University London, University of Perugia, Aston University and Cambridge University were falsified.
Prof. Odunlami said if he were to advise, it is high time the country conducted a certificate audit for all public gladiators including politicians, describing it as his candid thought on how to sanitize the Nigerian knowledge industry.
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