A
former classmate of Senator Dino Melaye has finally opened up
concerning the ABU certificate scandal rocking the Kogi lawmaker.
Senator Dino Melaye
A schoolmate of the embattled Dino Melaye, Abdussobur Salaam, at
the Ahmadu Bello University, ABU, has said the certificate scandal
rocking the senator is a retribution for his past sins.
Salaam who now works at the Federal University of Agriculture,
Abeokuta (FUNAAB), spoke against the backdrop of the certificate
controversy in which the senator is currently embroiled.
According to Premium Times Salaam while speaking on a Pen pushing
social media platform, said he studied political science at ABU at the
same time Melaye was a student in the Department of Geography at the
university.
“Permit me to make an intervention on the issue of Dino and
ABU, having been admitted and ‘graduated’ from ABU same year as Dino. I
use the word ‘graduated’, very guardedly and with caution.
“Permit me to say that as at the time we were admitted,
Geography Department was under the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
(FASS). In our 200 level, the Faculty was split and Geography Department
had issues of where to fit in. It was initially placed under Faculty of
Arts and later shifted to Faculty of Sciences where it is presently
domiciled. The narrative on his certificate could be correct,” Salaam
wrote.
“Dino and I are supposed to be ‘friends’ but differences never
permitted while we were in school. Till date, we communicate once in a
while, but I dare say he is the architect of his problems. “I have spent
all yesterday responding to enquiries on different platforms about
Dino’s status as a graduate. My take?
“We were admitted the same year, initially into the same
faculty of FASS, and given that our courses were four years, we ought to
have graduated same year. “However, recalling how studentship in ABU
was that period, you could never be too sure of the academic status of
any ‘student’.
“What do I mean? We had ‘students’ who were always around,
attended lectures, participated in all student activities, were
allocated hostel space, were always holding files and feigning academic
seriousness, only for an issue to come up and you would find out that
despite your having known them for years, they were never students but
just lived pseudo student lives!”
Salaam, who was a former Chairman of the Senior Staff Association
of Nigerian Universities at FUNAAB, said such attitudes of the fake
students might make it difficult for any of their colleagues to believe
that they were not authentic students.
“If they were never discovered, 20 years time, if a controversy
arose as to their status, one would swear confidently that the person
graduated!” , he stated.
“While this is not exactly the same with Dino, you cannot be too sure until facts are unearthed.
“I know for a fact that we were admitted together. I am aware
that he was very active in student political circles, though he has
attempted to insinuate that he was SUG president to shore up his
political profile.
Unfortunately, during our time, under the reign of Uncle K,
(General Kontagora as Sole Administrator) the student Union was
proscribed, so that claim cannot stick! He lied on that!
“As President of Geography students, I am aware that he was
impeached. I also know that he had fraud related issues with the Kogi
State Students Association and Segun Halilu personally had lamented to
me about this, then.
“I remember that he wanted to join the OAU students club then,
and we blocked his membership, knowing his tendencies to cause confusion
and take over the structure of the club for personal ends”.
Mr. Salaam said it is only the records of ABU that can state
whether Mr. Melaye graduated from the university. “On his status as a
graduate, only the records can tell. For all you know, he may have had a
few unresolved carry-overs. Knowing Dino, he may have bluffed, paid or
manipulated the system to ensure those records are obliterated.
“If not, recall that given the circumstances of our year set,
many concessions/ waivers were given to ensure that we graduated, having
spent almost double the statutory length of years we should spend.
Dino may just have been such a beneficiary of waivers. It is however
not our place to tell, but the truth will unfold itself”, Mr. Salaam
stressed.
“As a political scientist, what I see is a class fragmentation
struggle. An in-house struggle within the elite class. Saraki and Dino
are the subjects of attack today for a takeover of the National
Assembly. They may get over it or it may consume them.
“However, I do not have any sympathy for him (Mr. Melaye)
because he is also a master in the art of subterfuge, blackmail and
crude propaganda. Today, he is a victim of the same method he has
adopted over the years and I am happy to see the tables turn!
“Unfortunately, issues like this have led to the results they
were meant to produce – public hysteria! Everyone is now caught up in
debates about the Dino certificate scandal, or is it Dinogate?
“Everyone includes me! Last two weeks, it was Apostle Suleiman.
This week, it is Dino. Who knows who next week will throw up? While we
dwell on personalities and are distracted by their shenanigans, we
continue to remain victims of the plots and scheming.
At the end of the day, things like this die off, others take
their place in an endless cycle of politics of personality. While the
elite class continues to regale us with entertainment, the real problems
of underdevelopment, poverty, poor infrastructure, bad governance,
corruption, and other malaise remain! God help Nigeria!,” Salaam concluded.