Odinkalu Questions Tinubu’s Nationality, Parentage, Educational Records
By Nafiu Muhammad Lema
Human rights lawyer and former Chairman of the Governing Council of the National Human Rights Commission, Professor Chidi Odinkalu, has questioned the lack of publicly established records concerning President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s nationality, parentage and early educational history.
Odinkalu made the remarks during an interview with Nigeria Info FM, excerpts of which are currently circulating on social media.
The lawyer raised questions about the President’s primary and secondary education, saying Nigerians deserve clarity on the institutions Tinubu attended before proceeding to university.
According to Odinkalu, questions surrounding Tinubu’s background extend beyond his education to issues relating to his nationality and family history.
He specifically referred to claims about the President possessing a Guinean diplomatic passport and argued that details about his genealogy and early education should be properly established.
Odinkalu also addressed suggestions that Tinubu may have been homeschooled before attending university, a position he attributed to Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, in previous public discussions.
He argued that even if the President received education at home, there should ordinarily be evidence of the necessary certification that enabled him to proceed to higher education.
The human rights lawyer further questioned previous educational claims attributed to Tinubu, including references to Government College Ibadan, saying some of the institutions previously associated with the President’s educational history had later become subjects of dispute.
He wondered how a person could have verifiable university credentials without corresponding records of primary and secondary education.
Odinkalu also criticised what he described as attempts to reconstruct or regularise educational records to meet present eligibility requirements.
He maintained that attending a primary or secondary school should not be considered insignificant, regardless of how obscure the institution may be, particularly when the institution produced someone who eventually became president.
Drawing from his personal experience, Odinkalu said he began his primary education as an internally displaced person following the Nigerian Civil War and still takes pride in the school where he started his education, despite its obscurity.
He argued that every stage of a person’s educational journey should be traceable and properly documented, especially when the individual occupies the highest political office in the country.
