Bukola Oyelami, now bearing Adebukola Omotola Olujide, a one-time acting Executive Secretary of the Osun Primary Healthcare Development Board, is currently parading a forged master’s degree certificate purportedly issued by the University of Ibadan.

Documents obtained by FIJ showed that she claims to have attended the Nigeria’s premier university and obtained a masters of public health in Community Health, a programme under the Faculty of Clinical Sciences. But the certificate is patently fake, according to sources.

Born on January 1, 1970, according to the date of birth she holds, Oyelami’s fake questionable certificate carries 50537 as her matriculation number and serial number 0082512, bearing April 18, 2017 as issued date.

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OYELAMI’S WORK HISTORY

Information about Oyelami posted on the healthcare board’s website shows that she has spent over 20 years in the state’s public service. All through the years, she has been a medical worker serving in different positions.

She has an MBBS degree and an MBA in addition to the questionable certificate in Public Health, according to the information available on the agency’s website.

From 2000 to 2016, she worked as a director of primary health centres in four local governments. She was at Ayedaade local government, Gbongan as well as Irewole LGA, Ikire; Isokan LGA, Apomu and Ife Central LGA, Ajenbandele, Ile-Ife at various times.

In 2016, she was a Chief Medical Officer at Irewole General Hospital, from where she proceeded to become medical officer of health in Ilesa West, Ayedaade and Ife Central LGA between 2016 and 2020.

She has acted as a team lead under different programmes executed in the state in partnership with some local and international organisations, including Saving One Million Lives Initiative (SOML).

She founded Total Family Health Initiative (TOFHI), a health non-governmental organisation, in 2014 with its registration address at 18 Obafemi Awolowo Way, beside Boorepo Chemist, Ayetoro, Osogbo. She is also an evangelist.

The 52-year–old woman led the Osun Primary Health Care Development Board in activity capacity briefly in 2022.

A FAILED ACADEMIC BID

In a bid to advance her career, she doctor secured a postgraduate admission of the University of Ibadan (UI) in the 2003/2004 academic year. Going by the year of birth she claims, she was about 32 years old at the time.

Questions started emerging about the credibility of her MPH certificate allegedly issued by UI in the last quarter of 2022, however. In a letter dated January 25, 2023, the management revealed that the certificate Oyelami was parading did not originate from the school.

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It is a fact that she was truly admitted to study Public Health at masters level, but she absconded and did not complete the programme, leading to the termination of her studentship.

A source, whose name is withheld, alleged that Oyelami went through the backdoor to obtain the certificate.

“She doctored the certificate,” said the source. “She did not complete her studies due to some issues with her research project. She fell out with her supervisor. I can tell you that the certificate has issues.”

The certificate was purportedly signed by Professor Abel Idowu Olayinka and Olujimi Iretola Olukoya, the vice-chancellor and registrar of the university at the time respectively.

It is standard practice in universities to imprint a uniform date of graduation of a set of students who graduate in a particular year. Therefore, Oyelami’s studies purportedly dragged on for 14 years.

It is, however, impossible to remain an active student for a particular course of study for that an extended period of time in UI, according to a “Postgraduate Guide to Admissions 2021/2022 Version I” issued by the institution. According to the document, the allowable period for a degree in Community Health is 18 months.

OYELAMI SENT EMISSARIES TO FIJ

After sending at least three interlocutors to persuade FIJ or ask for “what can we do about the story,” Oyelami claimed civil service rules prevented her from speaking to journalists. She then accused FIJ of cyberstalking.

Throughout May to June, Oyelami repeatedly ended FIJ’s phone call on each occasion when our reporter called her. Once he introduced himself on phone, Oyelami would end the call.

She also did not respond to our text messages. After evading some of our messages sent to her via WhatsApp, Oyelami eventually replied on July 20, threatening to sue FIJ for cyberstalking.

“As a civil servant, I have nothing to say to you on the matter you want me to comment on, being a civil service matter, being handled within the civil service,” she said. “[It] does not require any media involvement,” adding that “You are not advised to dabble into the matter.”

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She went further, “Examples of cyberstalking include: Sending unwanted, frightening or obscene emails or text messages. I believe there are grounds for you to be sued already.

“Hope the person that paid you/your organisation to carry out this assignment is ready to foot your legal bills. You have threatened to publish a story about a civil servant, who is constrained to by civil service rules not to not to respond to you on giving her side of the story.”

‘YOUR LETTERHEAD HAS NO CAC REGISTRATION NUMBER’, UI TELLS FIJ

In February, FIJ sent several emails hinged on the terms of the Freedom of Information Act to UI’s Postgraduate College for its comments on this story, the management never responded.

FIJ sent an email to O.A. Olaoye, Deputy Registrar (Examination and Records), on February 7, but there was no response. When FIJ eventually phoned him, he said he had left the university.

FIJ also sent an email to M.A. Adewumi, Deputy Registrar (Admissions & General Administration) and copied the college information unit’s two email addresses on the same day. FIJ followed up with a phone call and Adewumi further directed us to email the college provost. He also promised to get back to FIJ with feedback, but he never did.

FIJ also drafted an email to Professor A.S.O. Ogunjuyigbe, College Provost, in which Professor E.O. Ewuola, Deputy Provost (Administration) and Adewumi were copied, on February 9. None of them responded to the mail.

On February 10, FIJ called Ogunjuyigbe on phone and he confirmed receiving the email. He requested our reporter to call him the next day when he would have convened a meeting over it and sought the counsel of the institution’s legal adviser.

To our dismay, Ogunjuyigbe told FIJ the next that the college would not honour our request on two grounds. First, he said the college was doubting FIJ’s legal existence because our letterhead did not have a CAC registration number. His second reason was that the school’s legal adviser said it was illegal to respond to our request because Oyelami’s academic journey was her private matter. He added that if the request had come from a government ministry, the school would be confident.

On CAC registration status, FIJ told Ogunjuyigbe that the college could simply check the commission’s online database for this newspaper’s status, but he remained unconvinced.

UI’S DISCLAIMER

Even though the university failed to respond to FIJ’s lawful request in line with the Freedom of Information Act, the institution had earlier issued a disclaimer in which it said that Oyelami’s certificate was not issued under its authority.

The disclaimer was a response to a letter that emanated from a governmental organisation, according to our source.

UI’s letter signed by Examination Officer of the postgraduate college partly read, “Your letter dated 16 December, 2022 in respect of the above subject refers. Bukola Oyelami was admitted for Master of Public Health (MPH) in Community Health during 2003/2004 session in the Faculty of Clinical Sciences, University of Ibadan.

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“However, our records show that she did not complete the programme and her studentship had since lapsed.

“In view of Oyelami’s inability to pass all the prescribed examinations (courses, including project) and failure to fulfill all the requirements of the University of Ibadan, the degree of Master of Public Health (MPH) in Community Health was never awarded to her by this University.”

An official within Governor Ademola Adeleke’s cabinet, who wished not to be named, told FIJ on Tuesday that the state government was aware of the certificate forgery after investigating Olayemi. Following the investigation, the government only removed her from heading the agency, but she has not been prosecuted.

According to section 467 of the Criminal Code Act, forgery is considered to be a felony. Anyone found guilty by a court of competent jurisdiction could be jailed for three years or subjected to any other punishment provided by the court.