False

*The danger of making crime a norm

Every time I speak of the fact that Nigeria is a crime scene, those who are part of crime and their mercenaries will quickly begin their noise, attacking and blackmailing me. But how do you tell people that those whose integrity, character and behavior should be exemplary and emulated in society have become the very source of the decay of the nation? How do you say to the young Nigerians to be honest and straight when those who should emulate are the least to be emulated because they are criminals and dishonest?

The falsification of the certificate is a serious crime in all countries of the world. It is one of the most strongly punished corrupt practices.

In one of my visits in search of knowledge in Indonesia at the beginning of this year, after interacting with several ministers responsible for health, villages, SMEs, planning and education, as well as vice -president and president Joko Widodo on development, I met the president of the General Electoral Commission of Indonesia. I asked him for the educational qualifications necessary to participate in the elections of the local government in the state legislature, the Governorate and to the presidential level. These qualifications openly opened to me.
My team and I asked a simple question: what if someone contested public offices with a forged certificate or has not attended the school he said he had attended? He looked at me, surprised and shocked, and said: “This immediately attracts the disqualification and accusation. It is a criminal offense. He added:” If anyone can forge a certificate, how can you trust that person to guide others? “

But in my country Nigeria, although the laws are the same in other countries, that falsification is punished by immediate disqualification, the independent national electoral commission (INC) makes no effort to scrutinize the certificates before the elections, the falsification looks and when you challenged after the elections, the court, will reject serious criminal problems such as “pre-section” without giving a criminal law.
The Incen, even after the elections, does not worry about revisiting or investigating these serious crimes before the next elections.

The other problem relating to all of these is the way in which criminals and dishonest people are unleashed through all the layers of control: safety, parliament and government systems set to manage such.

Even more disturbing, equal to the double tragedy, is that most of these dishonest people swear to a sworn declaration before a legal court certifying the authenticity of the documents presented.

Now we are preparing for the general elections of 2027. Incen has enough time to investigate past complaints on various forms of falsification and false statements.

Our electoral amendments must include that anyone intends to contest any public load, both a historical operator and a new candidate, must present all academic certificates to the electoral body immediately after the primaries, at least six months before the elections. These certificates, together with the details of the schools attended, what has been studied and years of study, should be made public for verification within 90 days. This process must also apply to nominated officials, ministers and even assistants, because when dishonesty starts from above, it spreads at every level of governance, just as it is happening now.

We must face the falsified certificate in a holistic way with the gravity and level of crime it deserves. Criminal offenses must not be rejected as a simple procedural question. We must end the era in which falsification and deception are rewarded with power. The real leadership must start with the truth.

A new Nigeria is possible. -Bit