The highly respected Prof. Anthony Kila is accused of parading fake degrees and a title. And while many in Nigeria indeed claim to have original certificates and degrees with heavy titles, they are, in most cases, unable to defend the knowledge ascribed to their paper qualifications. But with sheer erudition and a resounding command of knowledge in a professed area, Kila, on the other hand, has demonstrated such excellence in learning and teaching to the admiration of many in this world, who would never doubt his educational claims. All he has asked of his accusers and traducers is time. Time to prove his claims, as he is even yet to recover from the shock of not realising that one day some people would come after him, and in a manner he least expected. So does our law condemn a man before hearing from him? The man has only asked for time, and we will surely hear from him, sooner or later.
The Urhobo people of Nigeria are very proud of one of their own fellows known as Johnson Adjan. From the 70s through the 90s, he was the greatest exponent of contemporary Urhobo folklore, using poignant proverbs and a strong command of the Urhobo language, accompanied by the mastery of the gong. In his later years, Adjan called himself ‘Professor Johnson Adjan’ and toured the world, holding concerts in the United Kingdom and the USA. Yet, nobody ever questioned him for parading a title he ascribed to himself on account of his own assessment as the greatest of all time (GOAT) with his Opiri Revival.
So why is Professor Anthony Kila’s case different? While this does not reduce Kila to the status of unlearned fellows like Johnson Adjan, the principle is the same. At the Faculty of Law of the University of Benin in the 80s and 90s, one lecturer paraded a degree that was styled as ‘Ptychion’. While nearly 100% of the students and probably lecturers did not know whether such a degree existed, nobody dared question the validity or originality of this ‘Ptychion’ degree because whenever that lecturer gave lectures on the ‘deontic characteristics of law’ or on such concepts as ‘transcendental nonsense’, everyone would not only applaud him but would secretly wonder whether the said ‘Ptychion’ was even far superior to the LLB. That lecturer rose to become Head of the Department (HOD) of Jurisprudence at the Faculty before he retired, and it took me over 30 years after to realise that the ‘Ptychion’ degree was only awarded by Universities in Greece and Cyprus. Imagine if that lecturer was persecuted without being given time to prove his claims. So please give Prof. Anthony Kila time to prove his claims.
Professor Anthony Kila should not be surprised that while he wonders that he is neither seeking public office nor enjoys any government privileges, yet some people are going after his reputation, he forgets the famous lines of Charlie Peacock that: “the multitudes are waiting, waiting on pins and needles for the one more famous than the Beatles….” We should not be a society that is itchy as if pricked by pins and needles in expectation of the downfall of famous people.
To Professor Anthony Kila, let him realise that there is a silver lining in every cloud. And that even through the darkest of clouds, there will always be a dawn. Let him know that the excellence of the knowledge he carries with such finesse and genteel personality cannot be so easily discarded in the absence of paper traces to his qualifications.
So Prof, take your time as you may wish. Remain strong and be ever ready to expand the frontiers of learning as you have always done, and even now, let it be your courage under fire.
Frank Tietie
Lawyer, Media Personality and an admirer of Prof. Anthony Kila, writes from Abuja
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