Inspector Ogbosain Vs ‘Pilgrims University’

Comfort Obi

A Police Inspector, Thompson Ogbosain, of the Marine Divi- sion of the Bayelsa State Command is in pains. According to a story published on page 12 of the Saturday Punch of August 9, Ogbosain has dragged two top officials of the Bayelsa State Government, and the ‘Pilgrims University’, based in the United States of America, to court.
In a bid to improve his status in the society, and have an edge over a number of his colleagues in the Nigeria Police Force, Ogbosain enrolled for a four-year course at the University while still working. He did what most people, especially Policemen, are doing now. Tired of being regarded as school drop-outs, several Policemen who enrolled in the NPF without a University degree are making sacrifices by denying themselves of even personal needs in order to get a University degree. They grab at any opportunity they have to go to school. My stand is that they should be encouraged.
The NPF is the largest employer of labour in Nigeria. It has about 400,000 people in its employ. And I can almost confirm that it has more University graduates than any other organisation. The NPF must have more lawyers in its fold than other institutions. They are in hundreds. Truth is, if they organise themselves properly, they are capable of influencing, to a large extent, who leads the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA.
The zeal with which officers and men of the NPF are embracing education is heart-warming. There is a huge difference between a literate and a barely literate Policeman. Their manner of approach, and understanding of issues are different.
Nigerians, especially those who ply the roads very often, can testify. When, therefore, the opportunity to acquire a University degree, and especially from an American University, knocked on Inspector Ogbosain’s door, and more especially when it had the endorsement of two top Bayelsa State Government officials, he found it irresistible, and enrolled. After four years of hard studies, and N597,000, he was awarded a second class upper division, Bachelor of Science Degree, in Public Administration. And he smiled home happily, thanked God, and threw a party. His time had finally come, he reckoned, as he would now relax and enjoy the fruits of his labour. But that was when Ogbosain's nightmare began.
When, with confidence and a swagger, he presented his University degree certificate to the Police authorities, it was declared fake. Ogbosain thought it was a huge joke. But his eyes cleared when he was arrested and detained for presenting a fake certificate. And of course, he was not considered for his promotional examination, and therefore lost the opportunity of being promoted to the rank of Assistant Superintendent of Police. Since then, it has been tales of woes for the Police Inspector.
Ogbosain: “I spent a total of N597,000 from the date of admission through the date of my convocation in the purported University. I have also made enquiries and come to the conclusion that the school is a conduit pipe to dupe thousands of innocent students like me”. So, Ogbosain is crying to the high heavens.
To get redress, he has dragged the ‘University’ and the two Bayelsa State officials to court, claiming the sum of N10 million as damage for deceit and alleged fraud. The Police Inspector did right.
If you know the salary of an Inspector of Police, until recently, you will weep for Ogbosain. You will appreciate what he suffered to spend almost N600,000. He may have even sold his father’s land, borrowed money, and gone hungry some days. And now, he is being told that all that has been flushed down the toilet. That some smart Americans, in connivance with two Bayelsa State Government officials, took him for a ride. This is sad.
Obviously, he is not the only victim of this organised fraud. He says they are in hundreds. And he was talking of ‘Pilgrims University’ only. There are several of such 419 Universities all over the country. Hundreds of thousands of Nigerians are being duped every year by these ‘Universities’. The sad thing is that the National Universities Commission, NUC, the body which job it is to accredit Universities, has not done a good job of exposing these ‘Universities’ and/or enlightening the Public of their fraudulent activities. So, these ‘Universities’ feed on our ignorance and carelessness. There are also a couple of churches here involved in these dubious activities. They deceive their church members and others who weak-in-spirit into not only paying every Kobo they make to the church, but into enrolling in their so-called Bible Colleges. They give them diplomas, First and Master's degrees. A young woman known to me is a victim.
She insists that her school is a recognised one. All these years, she must have spent over N800,000 on transportation, tuition fees, books, and handouts! She would probably enrol for a Ph.D next!
Ogbosain showed Saturday Punch his ‘University’ Identity Card and Transcript. The newspaper says that its investigations reveal that the Police authority has written to the Director-General of NUC for clarification. In his reply, the DG, Prof. Placid Njoku noted that the ‘University’ is not one of those accredited by the NUC, and therefore, not known to the Commission.  He concluded: “One can, therefore, adduce that the programme was probably set up in Nigeria without the knowledge of the Commission. If so, then it is an illegal satellite campus set up to dupe unsuspecting Nigerians”. Well, isn’t that obvious?
The questions are: What has NUC done to protect innocent Nigerians? What are its enlightenment programmes like? How many of such ‘Universities’, and/or such other institutions has it closed down? What happened to their proprietors? In the case of the two Bayelsa State officials who, allegedly, connived with the fake University that duped Ogbosain, what has happened to them? Have they been arrested by the Police? Has the NUC waded into the matter and closed down the campus? Or are they waiting for more Nigerians to be deceived and duped? It is a sad situation. The NUC should wake up to its responsibilities.
Back to Inspector Thompson Ogbosain. The Legal Department of the NPF should give him support to seek redress for the mental, psychological, and emotional stress he has been made to pass through. His should be a test case to save thousands of other Nigerians who are suffering the same fate. That is only right.