Stealing Public Funds for Foreign Certificates

By Sanusi Muhammad

A criminally-minded Nigerian parent believes the sponsorship of his children with stolen public funds to acquire certificates from mushroom foreign institution is a source of pride, and better in quality than those from Nigerian universities. In those days, we used to call foreign students been-to. In the early 80s, Nigeria was a beneficiary of foreign scholarship in foreign institutions from the now disbanded Non-Alligned nations chaired by Bros Tito (late), president of the defunct Yugoslavia.

It was a programme designed to support educational development of progressing African countries introduced by the former Union of Socialist Soviet Republic (USSR). The programme churned out several technicians, engineers and medical personnel. With the disbandment of the Union, the programme ceased to exist.

Nigeria’s educational institutions the likes of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, University of Nigeria Nsukka, University of Lagos, University of Ife and University of Ibadan were competing with their peers at the global stage. That was a time a university degree was more than a meal ticket. Graduates were respected and adorned. There were only few Doctorate Degree holders and Professors. University education was a pride. Suddenly, kleptomaniacs in leadership along with their accomplice in government murdered the existence of public schools so as to establish their own private schools where half-baked graduates would be churned out to the labor market.

Although then, Nigeria had a better leadership than what is obtainable today, Chinua Achebe in his book “The Trouble with Nigeria,” published in 1983, identified failure of leadership as the single core problem of Nigeria. Achebe argued that there is nothing wrong with the Nigerian land, air, climate or the average character of Nigerian citizen, but rather, leaders are unwilling, insincere, incapacitated or unable to rise to the responsibility of true leadership.

At the time the book was released, the key issues troubling Nigeria were bad leadership, corruption, nepotism, cult of mediocrity, absence of patriotism and indiscipline. The book heralded the military coup on December 31, 1983 that truncated the Second Republic.

Nigeria later witnessed the aborted Third Republic, which ended with the annulment of June 12, 1993 presidential election by the Babangida regime.

Although Nigeria has witnessed 27 years of uninterrupted democracy since beginning of the current Fourth Republic in 1999, the leadership shortcomings identified by Achebe and other responsible intellectuals 43 years ago are still visible and rife till today.

Nigeria’s situation has been compounded by the hypocrisy and dishonesty of the contemporary leadership. Leadership hypocrisy and dishonesty are terrible because they destroy public trust, create double standards and inflict injury on the people.

A clear manifestation of contemporary Nigerian leadership hypocrisy and dishonesty are the manner political office holders and criminally-minded public servants in government employments brazenly celebrate academic milestones achieved by their children from foreign institutions sponsored with stolen public funds. Recall the exposure of Dangote on an NNPCL staff, caught lavishing suspected stolen public funds on the education of his children abroad. Most of NNPCL management staff if carefully investigated are involved in similar scandals.

For the sake of this piece, I will use two notable political figures in Nigeria who recently celebrated the graduation of their children from universities in the United Kingdom as reference for better understanding that may attract public curse.

First, the controversial Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyeson Ezonwo Wike, rolled out the drums to celebrate the graduation ceremony of his daughter from the University of Southampton in the United Kingdom.

Wike as publicly known was a two-term governor of Rivers State with a wretched parental background, who could not afford a decent meal before joining politics. He hosted family and friends to a dinner in London in honor of his graduating daughter who bagged the University’s Bachelor of Law (BL). A cross section of the media published photo clips of the grand event to prove a point to those whose commonwealth was stolen and lavished.

A few days after Wike’s hosted celebration, the governor of Anambra State, Charles Chukwuma Soludo, also celebrated the graduation of his daughter from the University of Nottingham. She studied Neuroscience. Soludo, his wife and other invited guests were at the convocation ceremony in the UK.

Now, let us look at the cost of studying in those two British Universities. Based on information in the public domain, to study Law in University of Southampton, a foreign student pays 24,000 British pounds a year. Barring unforeseen circumstances, studying law degree in the university takes three years. Altogether, to get a law degree in University of Southampton costs 72,000 British pounds (approximately N131 million).

In reference to the humongous amount Wike coughed for his daughter to acquire a BL at British University, primarily for show-off, is far more than the total amount he legitimately earned as an eight-year governor of Rivers State, and his earnings so far as a Federal Minister in the Bola Ahmed Tinubu led government. Where did he source the funds from? Your guess is as good as mine!

According to the Revenue Mobilization and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), the total annual compensation package for each of the 36 State Governors in Nigeria is N11, 540, 896. This amount covers basic salary, regular statutory allowances and packages. Hence, a former governor like Wike who served only two terms of four years each earned approximately N92.3million in eight years.

A substantive Federal Minister in Nigeria like Wike earns a total of regular package of N7, 801, 640, according RMAFC. By August 21, 2026, Wike must have served three years as a cabinet Minister. If we add his August 2026 salary, it means he has earned N23.4 million since his assumption of office as Minister. If we add the total amount he legitimately earned as governor and a cabinet Minister, it will sum up to N115.7million, which is still N15.3million less than the N131million he paid for his daughter to get a Law Degree from University of Southampton. What is then your guess on the source(s) of funding Wike’s daughter’s University Degree in the UK? Are you still confused with such an issue as an ordinary responsible Nigerian who is daily called upon to make sacrifices for better days ahead in Nigeria with the Wikes in power?

Your sacrifice if made is for the comfort of your grave diggers and their children who are surviving on your wealth, sweat and patience.

In the University of Nottingham where Soludo’s daughter graduated, a foreign student pays 33,000 British pounds per year to study Neuroscience. Bearing, unforeseen circumstances getting a B.Sc. in Neuroscience in the university takes three years for full time study. In total, to get a B.Sc. in Neuroscience in University of Nottingham costs 99,000 British pounds (N180million).

Curiously, Soludo said during his second year anniversary as Governor of Anambra State in March 2024 that he had not collected a dime as salary from Anambra State Government since assuming office on March 12, 2022. If that is to be believed, how did he manage to pay N190million for his daughter to acquire a University of Nottingham degree in neuroscience? Let him be bold to explain his source of wealth.

Ironically, the same people sending their children to study abroad often pay lip service to the continuous development of education in Nigeria. For instance, Wike had on several occasions publicly claimed during his days as Rivers State Governor, that the state never allocated less than 30 percent of its total budgetary allocation to education.

However, official records obtained shows that allocations to education during his tenure hovered around 20 percent of the total budget. For example, in the 2020 perused budget, his government proposed N49, 471billion for education (representing 20 percent of the total budget), which his administration cited at the time as the highest allocation to education ever.

If Wike had truly invested in education during his tenure as governor, why did he not send his daughter to Rivers State University, his alma mater, where he bagged his own BL? The Faculty of Law in Rivers State University is 45 years old as of today. It was established in 1981, a year after the birth of the university in 1980. It is unbelievable that the university cannot offer quality legal education after all the “massive” investments claimed to have been made in education in Rivers State by Wike. A typical case of a fool trying to fool the wise for an escape route!

Soludo’s case is bemusing. Why did I have to say so? He attained the status of a Professor courtesy of Nigerian university system in his thirties and consulted for the World Bank, before opting to serve in public service, first as the Chief Economic Adviser to President Obasanjo, and later, Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). So, one does not expect any State Governor in Nigeria to be better positioned to know the importance of educational development to the society more than him.

When the Professor of Economics was campaigning for the exalted office of Anambra State Governor in 2021, he promised to transform Anambra State as the “Dubai of Nigeria.” When it started becoming obvious that his promise of transforming Anambra to Dubai-Taiwan in his first tenure was a folk-tale, he recanted saying he never meant building skyscrapers everywhere. He described access to quality education as the road to the destination. So far, he has failed to march his words with action. It was purely a day-dream and a deceit for votes.

In the 2026 Anambra State budget, education got almost 50 percent of the total budget of N757 billion in figures and on paper, which according to Charles, is far above the 15 – 20 percent recommended by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Four months into the end of the fiscal year, nothing is on the ground in Anambra from findings to justify the humongous amount allocated on paper to education as claimed. But probably, it was part of the budgeted amount that was wired to Nottingham University for the degree programme of his daughter. And these are the charlatans we call leaders in Nigeria. A whole academic Professor presiding over the affairs of an industrious state by accident, but shamelessly telling lies to the same people that mandated him to govern them. These are the very people that have corrupted Nigeria to its present stage of insecurity and world capital of poverty status.

Public funds are wasted on ostentation and flamboyancy for ego while majority are forced by those evil thieves in government to beg for foods, water and medicines in the midst of plenty. A revolution is inevitable if we are to get it right!

Muhammad is a commentator on national issues