‘I Am Not Surprise Sacked CSU President, Financial Aid Are In The Middle Of Tinubu’s Certicate Mess’

US journalist and former student of Chicago State University (CSU), Jay Coyden Palmer has reacted to the controversy around the academic records of President Bola Tinubu.

Palmer in an interview on Voice of the People FM said he is not surprised about the people involved in the mess around the certificate of the Nigerian President.

According to Palmer, an ex-president and former financial aid director of the institution who were jailed for fraud are at the center of the mess.

Speaking on the institution he said, “We had a newspaper and the newspaper was around for 50 years and then the university shut it down in recent years and there’s been so much that’s gone on in Chicago State in the last 10 to 15 years so it actually does not surprise me that they are in the middle of this international incident because of the dysfunction that happens at that university and it starts at the highest level being the office of the president of the university down to the members of the board of trustees who are appointed by the governor of Illinois.

“So this sad situation that we’re currently talking about is not a shock to me at all.”

Palmer when asked if he is subtly accusing the management of the university of some complexity in one way or another said,
“I am absolutely saying that. I would not be surprised if we keep learning more information about this, there are people inside that university that were conspirators in this whole thing.

“That would not shock me at all. We cannot prove that yet but you have to realize that Chicago State has had a former president that was federally convicted of crimes.

“They had a financial aid director that was federally convicted of crimes and these people went to prison. This is not a surprise to me that they’re in the middle of this mess.”

Palmer when asked if the school actually does background checks of the academic records that are submitted by students prior to admission into the school or for admission into the school, said “So I would say that in terms of what we’re talking about on the Nigerian president, we also have to put it in the context that this happened back in the 1970s.

“Now today the technology has definitely changed. Back in the 70s, there’s no telling what they were doing. I doubt they verified anything back in the ’70s.

“So that is why I’m saying I could definitely understand how the situation got to where it is today because we’re talking about an institution back in the 70s that was doing things that were probably crazy back then.

“It’s just the fact that the things that came out in the deposition and just some of the contradictory statements that we heard from the deposition, that’s par for the Chicago State. I’ve covered this university for over 20 years and they talk out of both sides of their mouth all the time, all the time.

“It is very difficult to get information out of this university.”

When asked if he is saying that university management hasn’t been quite honest with students and straightforward in their dealings Palmer said, “Oh, never have been. Oh, wow. No, and I’m not just saying that you can ask any Chicago State alumni and they’ll tell you the exact same thing.

“So, you know, one of the things I find funny is that people in Nigeria have been asking me, well, you know, how do you feel about all this bad press that’s now coming down on the university you attended?

“And I was like, I’m absolutely happy. I’m absolutely happy because it’s now shot in a spotlight on Chicago State on an international level, which means now they have to get their acts together or they’re going to be heads rolling. And I would not be surprised if the governor of Illinois, as this thing keeps going on, the governor, JB Pritzker, if he absolutely steps in and we start seeing board of trustee members resigning or being removed.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if we see the president eventually taking the downfall for this. There’s a lot more to this story. And what I’ll say is that it’s because of the culture of Chicago State and the culture of dysfunction and the history of corruption that they’ve had within their administration.

“None of this is shocking to me. It’s shocking to you. It’s shocking to people in Nigeria. This is not shocking to journalists in the city of Chicago because we have covered this university for decades.

“So none of this surprises me.”