Mixed reactions over allegation of forged NYSC certificate against Finance Minister •As minister keeps mum

Mixed reactions, on Saturday, trailed the alleged forgery of the exemption certificate from the mandatory one year National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), by the Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun.

An online news medium, Premium Times, had in a report alleged that the minister, having failed to observe the compulsory NYSC after graduation from a United Kingdom polytechnic in 1989 at the age of 22, got an exemption certificate dated 2009.

But the minister has remained silent on the allegation, though Nigerians took to Twitter with different reactions to the news of the alleged forgery. While some of them called for her resignation, others claimed the allegation was nothing to write home about.

Sunday Tribune’s attempts to contact Adeosun through her Special Assistant on Media, Mr Yinka Akintunde, were unsuccessful while similar efforts to reach the minister were to no avail.

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Commenting on the allegation, one Sesan Koya  in his reaction rose in defence of the embattled minister. According to him, it is not compulsory that the Finance Minister should actively observe the youth corps service. “She graduated in UK and started working in UK, so she didn’t need to serve in Nigeria then. By the time she came to work in Nigeria, she had already worked many years in UK, so I don’t see any error here. Are you now saying that NYSC programme that was meant for freshly graduated students should now be taken for Nigerians that have not only studied but worked abroad? If she only studied abroad but didn’t work for many years, and came back to accept a job, that will be acceptable.

“How many people that only studied abroad come back home and serve the NYSC programme before gaining employment? So if you have worked abroad and you get an employment in Nigeria, because you are under 30, the company will hold the job down for you so that you will serve for 1 year? Common, let’s be reasonable for once.”

But some of the early reactions to the alleged forgery came from a former Minister of Aviation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode (@realFFK), who threw a shade at President Muhammadu Buhari for appointing Adeosun, noting that it was time for her to resign.

Another Twitter user, @nicholasibekwe, lampooned the president saying: “Your anti-corruption Messiah’s minister. Lol. Of course, Mr Anti-Kwarupsion will not sack her…APC e-mob will soon jump on this and blame the media for forging the certificate for her, while @ogundamisi said: “@HMKemiAdeosun did you forge @nysc_ng exemption certificate as reported exclusively by @PremiumTimesng? If the answer is yes, then when are you sending your resignation to @MBuhari as practised in democracies such as the UK? Regards.”

Yet another Twitter user, @sovereignayo, in his reaction to the news report said: “Our very own finance minister KemiAdeosun did not participate in NYSC upon her  graduation. She used an ‘Oluwole Certificate’ to work under the govt. No wonder our economy is in shambles.”

But the reactions to the news report took another turn, with some Nigerians blaming the Department of State Security and the Senate for failing to spot the alleged forgery while investigating Adeosun as a ministerial nominee, with a Twitter user with the handle @Saatah saying that “lawmakers knew her certificate was fake, but unlooked so they could blackmail Kemi Adeosun to keep giving them money. I want to ask, how many public office holder are prone to international blackmail?,” while another user, @nigeriasbest, said: “So the Senate knew Kemi Adeosun forged her NYSC documents but kept quiet?”

The minister was also not without some supporters. One Oluseyi Joseph wrote: “Does this[nysc] affect her competence? What would wasted 1-year NYSC add to your value…?” he had queried.

Another Twitter user, one Bashir Suleiman in a tweet to Naija.ng commended the minister’s attitude to work: “In spite of everything; she is performing wonderfully. Better than Harvard graduates,” he commented.