Ambassador-designate to Mexico, Reno Omokri, has defended President Bola Tinubu over renewed questions surrounding his primary and secondary education.
Omokri argued that the education system available during Tinubu’s formative years was different from the conventional schooling system in existence today, noting that homeschooling was common among some Nigerians at the time.
The former presidential aide made the remarks on Sunday while appearing on Channels Television’s Politics Today.
According to Omokri, critics should not automatically assume that the absence of conventional primary and secondary school records means that a person did not receive an education.
He said, “Are you aware that at the time the president went to primary school, at the time the president would have gone to primary school, secondary school, most Nigerians were not going to regular schools; a lot of them were being homeschooled.”
Omokri also challenged opponents of the President to produce records of their own primary school classmates, using the point to question the basis of some of the criticisms against Tinubu’s educational history.
“If you ask some of these opponents of the president to produce their primary school classmate, they cannot,” he stated.
He cited his family as an example, explaining that one of his children is homeschooled and that his Ethiopian wife also received her education through homeschooling.
Omokri maintained that questions about Tinubu’s early education did not invalidate his eligibility to occupy the presidency or seek re-election in 2027.
“We know for a fact that the president is qualified for the position he’s holding, for the position he wants to be reelected to,” he said.
The ambassador-designate also referred to Tinubu’s tertiary education at Chicago State University, saying the institution had confirmed the President’s admission, attendance and graduation.
“He went to Chicago State University. The registrar of that school went to court, and they confirmed that Tinubu was admitted, attended, and graduated from that school. That is enough,” Omokri said.
