A Note to the Defenders of Ismail Sani’s Fraud

  By Farooq Kperogi There appears to be a small but coordinated campaign to exculpate Ismail Sani, who forged Bayero University Kano documen...

 By Farooq Kperogi

There appears to be a small but coordinated campaign to exculpate Ismail Sani, who forged Bayero University Kano documents and assumed a false female identity to scam public-spirited northern Nigerians committed to supporting young people’s education.

A medical doctor I once respected for his erudition and presumed moral clarity is leading the charge, arguing that Ismail broke no school rule and should be spared expulsion. A BUK English lecturer whom I also thought possessed moral scruples echoed this position.

If the doctor genuinely wishes to influence BUK’s decision, Facebook updates are not the way to do it. The posts are clearly meant to emotionally blackmail and guilt-trip me and others who exposed Ismail’s fraud.

For the record, I have never called for his expulsion. I have no idea which university code his conduct may have violated or what penalty it prescribes. No one on Facebook can dictate what BUK should do.

BUK is an institution governed by laws and regulations that students accept as a condition of their enrollment. One of the many reasons most of us are proud alumni is the university’s long-standing zero-tolerance stance toward fraud by both students and lecturers.

 When I was an undergraduate, lecturers were forbidden from selling handouts to students, and I am told that rule still stands.

I recall a former classmate named Tokunbo who colluded with clerical staff to falsify his results so he could graduate and enroll in the NYSC. When the fraud was uncovered, his entire degree was withdrawn.

If the disciplinary panel investigating Ismail concludes that his offense warrants expulsion, Facebook apologetics will not cause them to disregard their own regulations. In fact, we do not even know what penalty his conduct carries or whether it formally violates a student code, although forging university documents to impersonate someone else in order to solicit money would surprise me if it violated no policy.

Why anticipate a punishment and then attempt to dictate the university’s response, as if it were a privately run kindergarten under the control of Facebook commentators?

To be fair, when I first spoke with the Dean of Student Affairs about this matter, I said I did not want the young man expelled or rusticated. He is already 29 and has only just completed his second year. My instinct was paternal. But the dean politely reminded me that the committee’s decision would be guided strictly by university regulations and precedent.

I asked if I could instead write a letter pleading for leniency, perhaps allowing him to sign an undertaking acknowledging his wrongdoing. The dean doubted that would work, but I still gave Ismail conditions under which I would seek a “soft landing” for him.

He was to publicly recount how he scammed me and others using the fictitious “Halima Tahir,” reportedly his girlfriend’s identity. He resisted. Combined with the growing chorus of people defending him and attempting to emotionally blackmail me, I informed the dean that I would no longer intervene to suspend the normal disciplinary process. Ismail later said he would comply, but by then it was too late.

What hardened my resolve further was Dr. MD Aminu’s discovery that Ismail had harmed people in Kano by posing as a doctor and administering injections and drugs. That matter has not yet entered the public domain. 

When I threatened to publicize his fraud if he didn’t tell the truth about the Halima Tahir persona, his greatest concern was that people would discover he was actually a veterinary medicine student. Now I know why.

To some he had claimed to be a medical doctor. To others he said he was an MBBS student. That deception enabled him to inject patients and dispense drugs to unsuspecting people. That is profoundly dangerous behavior.

I also suspect he may be mentally unwell. Perhaps BUK’s psychiatrists will examine him.

Well, whatever BUK decides will be acceptable to me. If the university lets him off, I will not protest. If it finds him culpable and imposes punishment, I will not grieve. For me, it is enough that his scamming has been stopped.