Nigerian graduate burns degree certificate and other credentials, calls them useless

Nigerian graduate and Edo State indigene, Alvin Ilenre, who recently trended on the internet for burning his degree certificate and other credentials, has said that he burnt his credentials because they are useless to him. 

In an interview with PUNCH, Ilenre, who confirmed that he truly burnt his degree certificate and other credentials said “I burnt them because I was going through some things and I needed to give myself closure. That was why I burnt them.

“I didn’t know where I dropped my secondary school certificate amid all these, but the certificates I burnt were my university, primary school leaving, and National Youth Service Corps certificates.”

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He further stated that the reason “I burnt the certificates is not far-fetched from the kind of society we are in and a lot of people in the country can relate to these things that we’re talking about here. It is frustrating being in a country where your certificate is not regarded. 

“I graduated from school and I wanted to get a job, but someone was telling me to go and bring N2.5million. Where will I get that from? Where should I get it from? Where will I get N2.5million to get a job?

“If I had that money with me, wouldn’t I start a business, or maybe go outside the country, to one African country where electricity is steady and start a business? You can’t start a business in this country and your millions will not go down the drain."

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Mr. Ilenre also cited corruption as one of the reasons for his actions. "How many of them (politicians) in power truly have (academic) results? You will go to school for years in Nigeria – five years, six years, without graduation. However, their children are taken abroad for studies.

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“When they go abroad and finish in time at the same age when you’re still languishing in school, they’ll get jobs in the civil service and get level 12. When you finally graduate after many years, you’ll now struggle to get a government job and when you do, what you would get is level eight. Let’s look at our educational system and talk to ourselves.”