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Recently, there have been coordinated media efforts to repackage Kemi Adeosun, Nigeria’s former minister of finance, an exercise that appears less like public enlightenment and more like a calculated attempt at historical revisionism. Through selective recollection and moral posturing, one of the most embarrassing scandals of the Buhari administration is being reframed as an act of personal integrity rather than what it truly was: a case of sustained deception that collapsed only under intense public pressure.
Adeosun’s resignation in 2018 did not occur in a vacuum. It followed months of public outrage over the revelation that she possessed a forged National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) exemption certificate, an offence under Nigerian law. Long before her eventual exit, Nigerians demanded a clear and honest explanation. None came. Instead, what unfolded was silence, deflection, blame-shifting, and an unconvincing attempt to wait out public anger.
In a recent interview with Laolu Akande on Channels Television, Adeosun attempted a rhetorical sleight of hand: she portrayed her resignation as a voluntary moral decision while simultaneously admitting that she stepped down only after it became clear that no one within government was willing, or able, to explain away the forgery. This framing insults public intelligence. A resignation tendered after three months of sustained pressure, mounting evidence, and institutional embarrassment cannot reasonably be described as a proactive moral stand.
The facts of the case remain stubborn and inconvenient.
First, Adeosun needlessly procured a forged NYSC exemption certificate. Whether by commission or complicity, the document was fake. Second, credible media reports, including TheCable of September 15, 2018, indicated that attempts were made to enlist senior NYSC officials to manage or neutralise the fallout once the forgery became public. Third, rather than confront the issue directly when it emerged, Adeosun initially deflected responsibility. Fourth, when the NYSC announced it would probe the matter, it confirmed only that she had applied for an exemption certificate, pointedly declining to state that one was validly issued.
Most tellingly, Adeosun waited for three full months before resigning. By then, the evidence was overwhelming, and the silence from the government deafening. The resignation came not because the truth had been courageously embraced, but because it could no longer be buried. Her justification in that interview with Laolu Akande that she was not a Nigerian citizen at the time she graduated and therefore was not eligible for NYSC service only deepens the puzzle. If that explanation is true, then there was absolutely no need to seek an exemption certificate at all, let alone a forged one. That she did so points to a deeper and more troubling pattern: the normalisation of cutting corners among Nigeria’s elite, secure in the belief that consequences are for the poor and powerless.
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It is against this background that Adeosun’s recent pontification on Nigeria’s economy, including her robust defence of economic policies of the current administration, must be viewed. It is difficult to ignore the timing of this renewed visibility amid rumours and permutations within power corridors to bring Adeosun back to government. Whatever her intentions, the optics are clear: this is an attempt at whitewashing a past misdemeanour that goes to the heart of public trust.
Public office is not merely about technical competence. It demands unimpeachable integrity. Adeosun’s record fails that test. A person who falsified credentials, evaded accountability, and resigned only when cornered cannot credibly present herself as fit for high public trust again. Nigeria is not short of competent, qualified people to hold public office. The country boasts several respected professionals with solid credentials and untainted records. The current administration already boasts a number of brilliant hands shaping the country’s economy.
At a time when Nigeria is grappling with economic hardship and a crisis of confidence in leadership, we must resist the temptation to recycle discredited figures simply because they once held office. National memory must not be so short, nor standards so low.
Adeosun’s media tour of repackaging should not be mistaken for redemption. Accountability delayed is accountability denied. Nigeria deserves better, and the future of public service must rest on competence anchored firmly to character.
