Former President Muhammadu Buhari has disclosed that, amid mounting pressure, he intentionally chose not to release his West African School Certificate (WASC) in the lead-up to the 2015 general elections.
In Chapter 5 of the book “Working with Buhari – Reflections of Special Adviser, Media & Publicity (2015–2023),” published by his ex-media adviser, Femi Adesina, Buhari’s school days and the political controversy surrounding his WASC certificate during the 2015 elections are detailed.
“I was going through a drawer some days ago and saw copies of my certificate. I always had it, but refused to release it so that those venting spleen on it could please themselves,” Buhari was quoted saying in 2018.
Adesina recalled the moment in November 2018 when the WAEC Registrar, accompanied by officials, presented the attestation certificate to Buhari, quoting him, “It would have been impossible for me to attend the Defence Services Staff College, India (1973), and thereafter, the United States Army War College, as a Nigerian military officer if I didn’t sit for the WASC examinations in 1961.
“My colleagues and I who spent close to nine years in boarding school both in primary and secondary, including Gen. Musa Yar’adua, when we intended to join the military we had to take a military examination.
“We were examined in three subjects, English, Mathematics, and General Knowledge because English is the language for general instruction throughout the country because of our colonial heritage.
“Mathematics in the military was necessary, coupled with Geography. We were trained how to be dropped off in the bush, given only a pair of compass and since we’re not astronomers, you’ve to learn to find your way, calculate, using the Pythagoras Theorem and others to work out your position.”
