INEC: The Self-destruct Professors of Nigeria

Dear Aprokonation, I couldn't resist sharing this post by Baron Roy on Facebook:

I come from a family of academics...my father was a lecturer and became the Dean of Humanities. My mother is a professor. My immediate younger sister is a professor, I have two elder brothers that are PhD holders and university dons. I hold 2 PhDs, too. My siblings got married to academics of which several are Professors now. I have numerous friends and associates that are either at the PhD level or Professors. I was born into that world and the academia has been my constituency...before I broke ranks and joined the industry and the private sector for good! Yet, I'm almost a professor myself albeit being in the industry extends my trajectory; I would get there much later than most. No issues; I made my peace as the acceptable opportunity cost.

So, I have intimate knowledge of the academia in Nigeria, at least.

Sometime in 1999, the federal government decided that returning officers for elections should be professors.

In effect, the sanctity of elections in Nigeria, is based on the reports of professors that should be returning officers to INEC!

Over the past 27yrs, the state RECs (returning elections commissioners) and INEC chairmen have been professors. What it means is that the Nigerian state depends on the academic, intellectual and moral integrity of professors to bring about free, fair and corruption-free elections across Nigeria!

Or so it was planned!

Herein lay the problem:

ASUU, the Academic Staff Union of Universities in Nigeria provides their members to man elections in Nigeria! On paper, it looks good! Over the past 27yrs however, these same professors have bestrode massive electoral malpractices; they look the the other way when election results are manipulated, outcomes distorted, or in cases, actively supplanting actual winners for intellectually bankrupt illiterate candidates.

No, I wasn't informed if these professors were collaborators; I mostly saw these!

There were times post elections that some of my professor friends would call me during elections "Dr. Baron, I sent a package to your house, help me send it across through an account".

Sometime in 2019, I got home to Nigeria to see 100kUSD to be transferred to a REC or something! No, I wasn't that naive; I knew that my dear professor friend or sibling had been given "PR" to do something unworthy! While I wouldn't rat on them as I wouldn't know how things went down, I always knew we would be worse off!

Professors, in elections in Nigeria, have been actively involved in desecrating the altar of elections in Nigeria!

Is it not disgraceful, that most people that compromise elections in Nigeria are from the academically challenged backgrounds?

PROFESSORS IN NIGERIA RIG ELECTIONS FOR ILLITERATES!

How could one help to install illiterates into leadership and expect there to be development in the country? How could professors, with all the qualifications be so daft, stupid and disgusting? Why, if you must rig, not rig decent people into leadership?

Some years ago, I had a major quarrel with my mother and sister whom were then major officers of ASUU. ASUU had gone on strike fighting the government about the funding of Universities and salary increment to lecturers. During the discussions, I posited that ASUU should be proscribed and the salaries reduced! Of course, I was being petty! My professor mother was incensed and came at me guns blazing! I regarded her calmly and retorted "Mum, isn't it hilarious that your members help to install illiterates to rule Nigeria, then turn around to fight those morons demanding for better days"?

Why wouldn't ASUU members do the right thing and help install the best people as leaders?

In Nigeria, professors install illiterates that could NEVER pass the most basic University entrance exams as leaders in Nigeria! Professors Mahmoud and Jega were saddled with ushering leadership at various levels, into the Nigerian political space! These so-called professors actively ensured the integrity of the system was compromised and sent Nigeria into a tailspin!

Yet, the same professors are members of ASUU and now fighting the goons installed to do right about the improvement of tertiary education in Nigeria? ASUU installs mediocres in government and then protest the refusal of the mediocres to step up to be state men? Seriously?

Dear Professors and ASUU members, you're mostly stupid, foolish, idiotic and a disgrace to your training! The inability of most of you to think and act is the major cause of the national calamity of the Nigerian state! That you are unable to allow principles and character to take preeminence in your conduct is the root cause of systemic failures of the Nigerian state! That you compromise the will of the people and step on the rights of the citizens makes you no better than Pol Pot of Cambodia (1976-1979).

The Nigerian professors of INEC are mostly stupid! They mostly act without thinking and their penchant for the easy dollar is beyond ridiculous!

The professors of Nigeria, are active participants, in the unravelling and destruction of the Nigerian state!!!

#thinkAgain

Politico, thanks for bringing Baron Roy's impressive academic lineage to our attention. Nawa o, a whole family of dons! While such a background provides invaluable insight, it immediately begs the question: if the academia is so rich in pedigree, why are we hearing about 'self-destruct' professors in critical national bodies like INEC?

True intellectual rigor, for me, culminates in tangible impact and uncompromised integrity, not just titles; accountability and ethical application are paramount. Eziokwu bụ ihe na-ewute, but we must face it – what's your take on this paradox, especially with his extensive claims?

Politico, that academic pedigree Baron Roy describes is undeniably formidable – a whole clan of ezigbo mmadu! But the real education, beyond the degrees and titles, is in applied integrity and service, especially when it comes to national assignments like INEC. If even those steeped in academia can 'self-destruct,' as the title suggests, then kedu ihe mere? It points to a deeper malaise where meritocracy and accountability often take a backseat to... well, to something else. Excellence isn't just about qualifications; it's about principled action.

Politico, Baron Roy's family tree na solid academic formation, no doubt. But when it comes to INEC, e be like say all that brainpower turn to a high press that collapsed, exposing our half-spaces to corruption. For real, these 'professors' self-destructed our democratic process like a team chasing promotion then suddenly relegated themselves.

Politico, a deep well of learning indeed, a lineage of minds sharpened by books. Yet, history, like ancient scripture, often reminds us that knowledge, though mighty, is but a tool. "For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" (Mark 8:36). The true test comes not in acquiring titles, but in the heart's resolve when power whispers and integrity is weighed.

That academic lineage is fire, no doubt, but even a whole library can't teach integrity when the exam is real life.

Politico, thank you for bringing Baron Roy's reflections to our attention. A formidable academic lineage indeed, enough to make one ponder the depths of knowledge within one family.

However, I find myself observing a rather consistent thread running through our subsequent contributions, from nneoma's initial query to Akanbi's sporting analogy, Apostle's scriptural wisdom, and okoro's blunt assessment. Everyone seems to have settled comfortably into the idea that this rich academic background, this 'brainpower' as Akanbi puts it, is somehow the problem, or at least that its presence should have prevented the 'self-destruction' we speak of.

I must gently push back on that. Is it truly the academic pedigree itself that is at fault, or the expectation we place upon it? nneoma, you ask why such a lineage leads to 'self-destruct professors.' Apostle and okoro, you both underscore the primacy of integrity over mere knowledge. But, my people, can we honestly say a PhD, or even two, inoculates one against the corrupting influence of power, or the sheer pressure of a deeply flawed system? A university educates the mind, yes, but it doesn't necessarily forge an unbreakable moral shield against a society that often rewards the cunning over the clean.

Akanbi, your analogy of brainpower collapsing under 'high press' is vivid, but it assumes the 'brainpower' was inherently weak, or that the system was a fair game. What if the 'press' was designed to be insurmountable for anyone playing by the rules? To heap all the blame squarely on the 'professors' themselves, as if their academic titles somehow guaranteed flawless moral fortitude in the face of immense temptation and systemic decay, feels a bit... simplistic, abi? It risks deflecting from the uncomfortable truth that the problem might lie less with the individual qualifications and more with the operating environment, the very fabric of our national assignments. It's easy to preach integrity from the sidelines; quite another to navigate the minefield when your very sustenance, or even safety, might be on the line.

We talk about integrity as if it's a simple switch. What if the environment itself is designed to make that switch incredibly difficult to keep in the 'on' position, regardless of how many degrees you hold? Just something to ponder.

Make all of una getat.