UNILORIN Don, 'Cambridge University' fault Buhari’s result, say Hausa ‘not included’ in 1961 WASCE

The controversy over Muhammadu Buhari’s WASCE certificate has taken a new dimension after a UNILORIN Professor and an email, allegedly from the University of Cambridge, casted further doubts on its authenticity

An educationist and Professor of Educational Foundations at the University of Ilorin, A. A. Adeyinka, has cast doubts over the authenticity of Gen.  Muhammadu Buhari’s University of Cambridge West African School Certificate(WASC) Examination certificate.

According to a This Day report, Adeyinka in his report titled “Major Trends in Curriculum Development in Nigeria” said Buhari’s claims that he sat for the 1961 WASC at the Provincial College, now Government College, Katsina, in 1961 and passed Hausa Language is false.

The don faulted the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential candidates' results which was released last Thursday by the Principal of the Government College, Katsina,Mallam Isyaku Bello based on his findings that no school in Nigeria offered subjects in local languages in the stated year.

Quoting Professor Adeyinka, This Day reports "it was only in the Western Region that offered a local language as a subject in both its curriculum and school certificate examinations" and it was only in 1974 that “a universal educational curriculum was developed and adopted that other local languages were included in school curriculums."

According to the don, the subjects offered at the time were English Language, Biology, Commerce, Principles of Accounts, Health Science, Literature in English, Bible Knowledge, History, Geography, Yoruba, Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry.

Did Cambridge University Deny Buhari’s Certificate?

A few days ago, there were reports in the media that Cambridge University had denied having Hausa Language in the year Buhari’s certificate stated that he sat for the WASC.

The reports, like the one published in All Africa, were based on statements credited Femi Fani-Kayode, Director of Media and Publicity of the (PDP) Presidential Campaign Organisation.

Fani-Kayode had allegedly said the University made the denial in an e-mail dated Thursday, January 22, 2015 from the institution's Archives Delivery Service Officer, Jacky Emerson, to one Sodiq Alabi.

"According to the Regulations for 1961, African Language papers, including those for Hausa, were not included for West African School Certificate," the one-sentence e-mail allegedly from Emerson read.

This tallied with Professor Adeyinka’s report but is in starkcontrast to SaharaReporters which claimed in a report that:

“the University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate (UCLES), now known as Cambridge Assessment, has confirmed that Hausa language was one of the set subjects offered in 1961. In their email to SaharaReporters, Cambridge Assessment made it clear that “Hausa” was offered as a subject in their exams in 1961.”

With this new development, it is certain that the last is not yet heard of the matter.