NYSC: Kemi Adeosun On Trial

The controversy over George W. Bush’s military service in the National Guard was an issue that first gained widespread public attention during the 2004 presidential campaign. The controversy centred on Texas Air National Guard, why he lost his flight status, and whether he fulfilled the requirements of his military service contract. According to Wikipedia, in applying for pilot training, Bush took a standardized test on which he had a low score, in the 25th percentile. In addition, Bush had two arrests for college pranks and four traffic offenses before applying for pilot training. In 2004, former and current military pilots said it was uncommon for an applicant to be accepted into pilot school with such a record, though there was no specific score that disqualified a candidate. The “Killian documents” which initiated the scandal were originally claimed to have come from the “personal files” of the late Lt. Col. Jerry B. Killian, Bush’s squadron commander during Bush’s Air National Guard service. The documents, however, were widely considered to be fake. While there were technical inaccuracies, nonetheless, the issue engendered serious challenges to the political aspiration of the American presidential candidate at the time. The forgery allegations subsequently came to the attention of the mainstream media, especially after experts also questioned the documents’ authenticity and lack of a chain of custody. The original documents have never been submitted for authentication. The man who delivered the copies, Lt. Col. Bill Burkett, a former officer in the Texas Army National Guard and outspoken Bush critic, claimed that he burned the originals. Burkett admitted lying to CBS and USA Today about where he had obtained the papers and eventually expressed doubts of their authenticity. September 20, 2004, less than two months before Election Day, CBS News stated that it had been “misled” and that it could not authenticate the documents and should not have used them. In a 60 Minutes interview with Marian Carr Knox, secretary to Killian at the time, who stated that she “didn’t type these memos”, although admitted she had typed memos of similar content. CBS then formed an independent panel headed by former U.S. Attorney General Dick Thornburgh and retired Associated Press president Louis D. Boccardi to investigate the story and the handling of the Killian memos. The final report of the panel, while not addressing the authenticity of the documents, faulted many of the decisions made in developing the story, and producer Mary Mapes along with three others were forced to resign from CBS News. In view of the above, the trending news of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) exemption certificate allegedly obtained by fraudulent means by the serving Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, is another high-profile case of possible “inaccurate and technically faulty” issue. Like the George Bush case earlier cited, there’s political dimension introduced to what should be a purely administrative mix-up. Premium Times did a thorough investigative job but the follow up reports from the online newspaper is lending credence to a possible sinister motive or political undertone behind the ‘scandal.’ Spokeswoman for the NYSC, Mrs. Adeyemi Adenike, had issued a three-paragraph statement in which she acknowledged that “Checking our records, Mrs. Adeosun did apply for an Exemption Certificate” but that “We shall investigate the origin of the purported Exemption Certificate in question.” Since the NYSC has acknowledged that Adeosun indeed applied for exemption certificate, the searchlight should now be beamed on how she procured her copy of the certificate. From my own experience, I smell a rat within the NYSC on the issuance of this controversial certificate. I was a victim of an official scam last year; this might likely be the booby trap Adeosun innocently got trapped in. In March 2017, a licensing officer in Lagos State office scammed me. How? Since 2011, the man had been handling the renewal of my vehicle particulars. He had even effected a complete documentation of another vehicle for me. We relate warmly and seamlessly like brothers until last year. For reasons best known to him, while renewing my vehicle particulars, he brought a duly stamped and signed “To Whom It May Concern” letter purportedly issued by a superior officer pending when they will rectify the mistakes on their system to enable proper documentation of my vehicle license. Initially I became hesitant to accept his story but because he had been doing it for me for years without any hitch, I accepted. In March this year, barely two weeks to the expiration of my particulars, a team of policemen on a routine check queried the “letter” which was a year old and I haven’t collected my original vehicle license. Pronto, I called the guy on the telephone and told him that a police officer was querying the document. He agreed to speak with the officer only to harass, issue threats and virtually insults him. The matter ended on a sour note and the police officer insisted I have been scammed. Later, I went to a licensing office to perfect the document only to discover that the paper he gave me in lieu of my vehicle license was truly fake. I had to pay for two years: 2017 and 2018 to normalize my vehicle particulars. I share this ugly experience to illustrate what might have possibly transpired in the case of Adeosun. The licensing officer in question is still in the service; he’s a bonafide staff of the state licensing office. Peradventure Adeosun was in urgent need of the certificate at the time, I presume that a smart staff in the organization decoyed her by ‘helping’ to fast-track the process, a bait she most likely swallowed hook, line and sinker. Judging from the details provided in the story by the news medium and apathetic body language of the NYSC in responding to the issue, Adeosun may have been truly scammed just like I was by a staff of the state licensing agency. I’m not holding brief for Adeosun for her possible culpability in this matter, but if we must be objective, it is very possible that she’s not aware that she had been scammed with the certificate. By the time the National Assembly “detected the discrepancy” according to the report, she ought to have proceeded to rectifying it. Considering her level, it would be done without much ado except for the prying eyes of the media that might want to feast on the lapse if leaked. In my opinion, the major issue here is not only about Adeosun’s alleged fraudulent exemption certificate, it is also an opener for new vista of provisions both for Nigerians in diaspora and the lacuna in the NYSC act as it affects Nigerians in diaspora. This development should rather serve as a lesson to parents whose children are studying overseas. They should insist on their children coming home for the mandatory one-year NYSC service because they might have opportunities for jobs or political appointments in future. Adeosun may never have thought about the possibility of earning such a high national appointment like a minister as at the time she applied for the exemption certificate. For those calling for her head on the ground of alleged forgery, they are entitled to their say, but I think an unbiased investigation will ultimately prove her innocence against seeming deliberate complicity in the allegation. The Oluwakemi Adeosun I know will never circumvent the process or wilfully choose to earn anything by fraudulent means. The truth, in a matter of time, will be unveiled to the public just like George Bush’s. •West, a public affairs analyst, writes via mikeawe@yahoo.co.uk]]>