The British Broadcasting Corporation report on President Bola Tinubu’s academic records from Chicago State University was criticised by the National Democratic Coalition, a democracy advocacy group. They claimed the report was an attempt to maintain colonialism in Nigeria.

In its apparent “attempt to launder the image of President Tinubu,” the BBC was seen to be rapidly losing its ethical and journalistic credentials. It was stated that it was shocking that the British media outlet had decided to participate in this image-laundering project, “despite irrefutable evidence pointing to the authenticity of the allegations.”

This was stated in a statement released by the group’s executive director in the United States on Wednesday night, Lloyd Ukwu.

President Bola Tinubu’s academic credentials from Chicago State University that he submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission for the 2023 presidential election were not falsified, according to a BBC Disinformation Team report on Wednesday.

According to NADECO, however, “it is our solemn duty to shed light on deceit and manipulation, even when it is carried out by influential figures, in a world where integrity and honesty are increasingly becoming rare commodities.” In an apparent hired attempt to repair President Bola Tinubu’s damaged reputation, the British Broadcasting Corporation has once again displayed a reckless display of misinformation, against which we are steadfast today.

The CSU certificate forgery scandal has severely damaged President Bola Tinubu’s reputation, and in recent times, we have seen an unrelenting campaign to restore it. The BBC’s Disinformation Team is the source of this image-laundering project’s most recent endeavour. Witnessing such mischievous and biassed reporting from an organisation that the public has long trusted is depressing.

The attempt to damage President Tinubu’s reputation is not shocking us—he recently employed a new group of media aides specifically for this purpose—rather, what is shocking is the BBC’s reasoning behind this hatchet job. The BBC’s flagrant disdain for information that is already in the public domain is one thing that perplexes us. The registrar of CSU firmly implied forgery when he declared, under oath, that the certificate Tinubu submitted to INEC was not legitimate and was not issued by the University. To fool the astute Nigerian public, however, the BBC has decided to embellish its version of events.

It is not unexpected, once more, that Tinubu recently hired a new group of media assistants in an attempt to repair his public image after realising the harm done to his reputation by the Chicago State University certificate forgery scandal. The extent to which the BBC has decided to participate in this image-laundering project, despite unquestionable evidence supporting the veracity of the accusations, is what is genuinely shocking on another level.

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Is there something that Tinubu’s money cannot purchase, or is the old colonial mouthpiece at work?

“If the registrar of the CSU firmly stated, under oath, that the certificate Tinubu submitted to INEC is not from their university, indicating the clear act of forgery, then what would the BBC term that? It is astonishing that the BBC decided to broadcast its version of events in order to mislead the well-informed Nigerian public.

“More CSU-obtained documents expose a long list of anomalies and clearly demonstrate deceit:

Exams were to be retaken because Mr. Bola Tinubu failed to meet the necessary admission requirements.

According to his admissions paperwork, he is a female.

“His female Social Security number was used by someone else.

“The school was founded in 1974, but the document he submitted purports to be from a 1970s establishment.”

“What is truly perplexing and confounding NADECO USA is the BBC’s apparent failure to fact-check these glaring discrepancies before presenting its report to the Nigerian people,” the statement continued. “By doing this, they are intentionally and maliciously undermining journalism and the very people they are meant to inform.”

Additionally, the BBC has demonstrated a conspicuous lack of interest in looking into Tinubu’s possible involvement in a drug case in the United States or his possible involvement in the manipulation of the Nigerian general elections with allies. Even though the public looks to the BBC for unbiased, in-depth reporting, it seems that they prefer to embellish existing information. The selective reporting by the BBC further damages its already diminishing reputation and the confidence of Nigerians who are already aware of the truth.

The Nigerian people and the global community who value journalism that is honest and truthful are gradually losing faith in the British Broadcasting Corporation. The indignities of a British colonial mouthpiece and the colonial arrogance exhibited by such unverified and misleading stories are intolerable to the suffering masses of Nigerians.

“NADECO USA vehemently denounces the BBC’s media report, which can only be described as a reckless disdain for the truth and an injustice to the people of Nigeria.” We want the BBC to stop doing these things going forward.

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