Ex-NHRC Chairman Odinkalu: “We Don’t Know Tinubu’s Nationality, Genealogy, or Basic School Records”

Here’s a question that won’t go away—and this time it’s coming from a serious legal voice. Professor Chidi Odinkalu, former Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission, has raised deep questions regarding President Bola Tinubu’s citizenship, educational background, and family history.

Pointing to the long-running controversy surrounding a Guinean diplomatic passport, Odinkalu argues that it leaves Tinubu’s true nationality genuinely unresolved.

The Education Puzzle

Beyond nationality, Odinkalu is pressing for clarity on the President’s educational trail. He questions how one can hold a university degree without any verifiable primary or secondary school records.

He dismisses the old “homeschooling” excuse—a defense previously posited by Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Festus Keyamo—by pointing out a simple reality: even homeschooling is a preparatory process that still requires eventual certification, not an exemption from it.

“How do you not go through primary and secondary certification but you have a university degree?” Odinkalu asked, also noting that previous claims by the President to have attended institutions like Government College Ibadan had been disputed.

A Personal Perspective

What makes Odinkalu’s argument land harder is his own story. He recalled beginning his primary education as an internally displaced child immediately after the Nigerian Civil War.

“I know the primary school I started off in, if I mention it to you, it’s not in any place on the map. But I take pride in it and I take pride in the fact that I passed through that primary school,” he shared.

His point is clear: regardless of how remote or insignificant a school might seem, it should take pride in producing a future president. So when a sitting president cannot produce that same basic trail, Odinkalu suggests, it is not an unreasonable question to ask.