It was a Tuesday morning television interview, the kind that ministers usually navigate with careful non-answers and rehearsed talking points. But Education Minister Tunji Alausa chose a different approach entirely, walking straight into one of the most contested corners of Nigerian political life: President Bola Tinubu’s academic record.
Appearing on Channels Television, Alausa declared, without qualification, that Tinubu had graduated from Chicago State University with a first-class degree in accounting. “I’m telling you hardcore facts,” the minister said. “I lived in Chicago for almost 30 years. I’ve been to that university so many times.” When pressed by the interviewer on whether he had personally encountered people who studied alongside Tinubu, he said he had. Asked directly about the classification of the degree, he replied: “In accounting, of course.”
What the university’s records actually show
The problem is straightforward. Available records from Chicago State University confirm that accounting was Tinubu’s field of study, but they carry no indication of a first-class classification. The claim rests entirely on Alausa’s word, offered on live television with no documentary support. That gap between assertion and evidence matters, particularly given that Tinubu’s academic credentials have been a live controversy since the 2023 presidential election petition proceedings, when his university records became a formal point of contention before the courts.
The issue has resurfaced with fresh urgency. The Independent National Electoral Commission recently began publishing the personal particulars and academic credentials submitted by presidential candidates ahead of the 2027 general elections, and the renewed scrutiny brought Tinubu’s qualifications back into public focus. Alausa’s television appearance, far from settling the debate, has added a new and unverified claim to it.
A minister in full campaign mode
Alausa did not stop at the degree claim. He went considerably further, describing the President’s intellect in terms that raised eyebrows across the political spectrum. “Oh, he’s a genius. Let’s not talk about the capability of this President. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is literally a genius,” he told the interviewer. He also credited Tinubu with reversing Nigeria’s economic decline, saying: “Look at how he’s transformed a moribund country three years ago to a country that is growing.”
When the interviewer attempted to introduce counterpoints, citing Nigeria’s out-of-school children figures and persistent poverty levels, Alausa declined to engage. “I don’t want you to derail this conversation,” he said, before redirecting to a general defence of the President’s record. It was a telling moment: a minister defending an unverifiable academic claim by refusing to discuss the measurable realities of the country he helps govern.
A controversy that will not go away
Tinubu himself has spoken publicly about his time in the United States, recounting how he drove a taxi and worked multiple jobs to fund his university education, a narrative he has linked to his administration’s stated commitment to expanding access to education. His government has pointed to student loan figures, investment in medical schools and nursing enrolment numbers as evidence of that commitment.
None of that is in dispute. What remains unresolved is the specific claim Alausa made on Tuesday, namely that the President holds a first-class degree from Chicago State University. Until either the university or the presidency produces documentation to that effect, the minister’s assertion stands as precisely what it appears to be: a personal claim, made on television, that goes further than any official record supports. In a country where questions of leadership credibility carry enormous weight, that distinction is not a minor one.