President Muhammadu Buhari says he and the late Shehu Musa Yar’dua sat for the West African School Certificate (WASC) in 1961.
Buhari said this on Friday after Iyi Uwadiale, registrar of the West African Examination Council (WAEC), presented him with a re-issued certificate at the presidential villa in Abuja.
Femi Adesina, the special adviser to the president on media and publicity, wrote on Twitter: “WAEC presents attestation certificate and confirmation of school cert result to President Buhari. What will the naysayers say next?”
WAEC presents attestation certificate and confirmation of school cert result to President Buhari. What will the naysayers say next?
— Femi Adesina (@FemAdesina) November 2, 2018
There has been controversy over whether or not he wrote the O’Level exam having claimed in his affidavit to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) that his original credentials were with the military.
After collecting the re-issued certificate from WAEC, Buhari said it was his certificate that enabled him to attend the Defence Services Staff College in India and the United States Army War College.
”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,” Buhari said.
”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 were not astronomers, you have to learn to find your way, calculate, using the Pythagoras Theorem and others to work out your position.”
On his part, Uwadiae said the council could issue attestations to those who have lost their certificates.
”We don’t issue certificates twice but we can issue attestations or duplicate copy of the certificate. We also have what we refer to as confirmation; usually, universities were using this in those days when Information Technology was not in vogue,” the registrar said.
”Whoever sat for WASC exams in whatever year, we have the records in our database, and Mr President, we have the records of the examinations you sat in 1961.”
Buhari retired as a major-general in the army.
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