By Ishaya Ibrahim
The initial case against Dr. Joshua Olusegun Bolarinwa, a Senior Research Fellow at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), Lagos, could have been excused as the slip of a careless lecturer.
Bolarinwa, NIIA Head of Country Studies, is also a part-time lecturer at the Lagos State University (LASU) and the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN).
The initial allegation was that he graded the plagiarised theses of three NOUN postgraduate students 70 per cent. It took an external supervisor to detect the fraud.
The external supervisor was curious that the plagiarism was not detected by Bolarinwa, who claimed to be an Associate Professor of International Relations at the NIIA, specialising in security and strategic studies.
Giving the students who plagiarised their theses 70 per cent put them above average.
Stakeholders have blamed this kind of malpractices as responsible for the poor quality of graduates. But the NOUN said the students’ score has been downgraded to ‘fail’.
“Those students who were found to have plagiarised their theses, they have failed because the university has an appeal board where none of them has come forward to defend their work. So, they have failed,” Ibrahim Sheme, NOUN director of publicity and media told TheNiche.
The Dean of Postgraduate Studies, Prof. Samaila Mande had referred our reporter to the director of publicity for details on the scandal.
Sheme said the external supervisor also asked the NOUN to probe the credentials of Bolarinwa, and that was when the lecturer’s problem began to multiply.
On the website of the NIIA where Bolarinwa works full time, he is a senior research fellow. But in the NOUN where he works part-time, he allegedly presented documentation that describes him as an Associate Professor.
Sheme further explained that Bolarinwa was a facilitator in the NOUN, not an employee, and therefore not subject to the same employment procedure that NOUN staff undergo.
“He is a staff of the NIIA. We recruit hundreds of academics that we call facilitators. You know that Open University is not where students sit in a classroom setting.
“We recruit facilitators to take care of that kind of teaching arrangement. Facilitators are part-time contractors and are paid.
“He was a facilitator at the political science department but when the university discovered anomalies about his claim of academic attainment, the university asked him to provide the proof of his claim which he never did,” Sheme said.
At the NIIA, Bolarinwa was found to have allegedly forged the signatures of Professor Charles Dokubo, at the time director of research and studies, now coordinator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme; and Professor Oche Ogaba, a director of research who is now late. The documents attest to his false claim of Associate Professor.
“We could have used his services because he has a PhD. But when you make a false claim of higher attainment, it is like falsifying your academic qualifications,” Sheme said.
The NIIA queries Bolarinwa
TheNiche learnt that Bolarinwa replied the query given to him by the NIIA authorities, claiming that Dokubo signed the documents that attest to his false claim as an Associate Professor.
But our source said the institute is more interested in protecting its image as Nigeria’s foreign policy think tank than exposing the case which could dent that image more precariously.
Dokubo denies, acknowledges scandal
On Wednesday, November 27, Dokubo denied knowledge of the scandal at the NIIA where he was a director until President Muhammadu Buhari appointed him a special adviser on Niger Delta in March 2018.
His spokesman, Murphy Ganagana who spoke for him said: “I am not aware of what you are saying. And I am not sure Professor Dokubo is also aware.
“Reason is: have the relevant authorities drawn his attention to it? Have they reported to the security agencies? These are steps they ought to have taken.
“And if the law enforcement agencies notify him on this matter and it is established it is his signature that was forged, he will now go and testify. And he will be glad to do so.”
But TheNiche got it on good authority that Dokubo was notified by NIIA about the incident and was actually told that Bolarinwa named him as having signed the document purporting him to be an Associate Professor.
TheNiche then advised Ganagana to speak with his boss on our finding and give us his side of the story.
This time around, Ganagana responded rather in a manner to ward off any further questioning.
“If he has been contacted, then he must have responded to the authorities at NIIA. Those who said he has been contacted can as well avail you of his response. Let’s leave him out of this,” he said via a text message on Wednesday, November 27.
On Friday, November 29, Ganagana called TheNiche to explain that he had been speaking to us without actually hearing from his boss.
He then explained that the NIIA had indeed notified Dokubo of the case and that his boss had replied that the signature Bolarinwa was parading does not belong to him.
NIIA DG terminates chat on scandal
TheNiche also contacted the NIIA director-general, Professor Bukar Bukarambe on the matter on Friday, November 29.
After initially responding in a friendly manner to the greetings of our reporter, Bukarambe abruptly ended the call once the reporter mentioned that he was investigating a story that involves a senior research fellow at the institute who allegedly lied that he is an Associate Professor.
Subsequent calls to Bukarambe’s cell phone were not taken. He did not also respond to a text message sent to him over the scandal.
Bolarinwa dribbles TheNiche
When TheNiche contacted Bolarinwa he first asked our reporter to give him till 5 pm on Friday, November 29 to be able to respond to the allegation. That was about 2:30 pm.
At 5 pm when our reporter called him again, he said he was driving and promised to call back. He never did and refused to take subsequent calls from our reporter before press time.
Head of Service watches development
The Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation (OHCSF), TheNiche investigation revealed, is keeping watch over the outcome of the scandal.
The office confirmed knowledge of the matter when TheNiche contacted it as NIIA supervisor, also on Friday, November 29.
The Director of Communications, Olawunmi Ogunwosunle in an email exchange with TheNiche said the matter is “in the purvey of the OHCSF.”
