Jonathan’s PhD certificate authentic — UNIPORT

FOLLOWING speculations in some quarters that
President Goodluck Jonathan did not complete his
doctorate degree programme at the University of Port
Harcourt, the institution has come out in his defence.
But the Uniport Deputy Registrar (Information), Dr.
William Wodi, explained that apart from acquiring his
first degree in the institution, Jonathan also got his
Masters and Ph.D in the same institution.
Wodi, in a statement sent to SUNDAY PUNCH via
electronic mail, described the rumour about the
President's educational qualification as baseless.
The deputy registrar of the university specifically
stated that Jonathan was among 422 students that
matriculated in the school in 1977 and was admitted
in the Department of Zoology, which had been
renamed Animal and Environmental Science.
"The authorities of the University of Port Harcourt are
aware of rumours that are now spreading like
harmattan fire over the doctoral degree status of
President Goodluck Jonathan. The allegations have
neither legs nor grounds to stand on and we hope that
its purveyors will now rest in silence.
"For the avoidance of doubt, the authorities of the
University wish to state without equivocation that Mr.
Goodluck Jonathan, as he then was, was among 422
students, who matriculated in 1977. He was admitted
into the then Department of Zoology, now Animal and
Environmental Biology in the then School of Biological
Sciences, now a Faculty in the new College of Natural
and Applied Sciences.
"At the end of a successful residency period, Jonathan
was awarded the Bachelor of Science (Upper Division)
in 1981. It was rumoured among students that the
young university was reluctant to award the First Class
to its pioneer class in an effort to consolidate its
academic profile," Wodi said.
He said the President later enrolled into the
postgraduate programme and obtained the Master of
Science degree in Hydrobiology and Fisheries in 1985
and crowned his academic pursuit in the University
with the Doctor of Philosophy degree in Zoology in
1995.
He said, "From the above account, it has become
obvious that Dr. Jonathan successfully completed the
prescribed courses and programmes as specified by
the Senate of the University of Port Harcourt to earn
his degrees from the university."
Stressing that the university remains proud of
Jonathan, Wodi advised any person or organisations in
need of further information on the educational
qualification of the President or any other student of
the institution to contact authorities of the university.
"We have absolutely nothing to hide as an institution
that has a statutory mandate to advance the frontiers
of knowledge," Wodi added.