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Farooq Kperogi Reacts To FUTO’s ASUU Panel Validating Pantami’s Appointment As Professor
Farooq Kperogi, a US-based Nigerian Professor of Journalism and Emerging Media has reacted to a panel set-up by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) of Federal University of Technology, Owerri, validating Minister of Communication, Isa Pantami’s appointment as Professor of Cybersecurity.
The panel in its report, had claimed that “the appointment of Dr. Isa Ibrahim Pantami as a professor of Cybersecurity by the FUTO Governing Council followed due process”.
However reacting to this, Kperogi stated that while “FUTO’s registrar had told the Nigerian Tribune that Pantami told FUTO that he was an “associate professor” at the Islamic University in Madinah before his relocation to Nigeria, and that Pantami’s promotion to a Professorship in cybersecurity was a consequence of his last academic position”, “Pantami lied and FUTO is either too feckless or too compromised to catch his obvious.”
The US-based Nigerian Professor claimed that the last article the Minister wrote while at the Islamic University in Madinah in January 2016 is “The Importance of Identity Management Systems in Developing Countries” (which he co-authored with a Yusuf Abubakar at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University), and he resigned and took up a government appointment thereafter. He alleged that in the artice, Pantami self-identified as “Asst Professor,” which is the short form of “Assistant Professor.”
Kperogri further alleged that there is a fraudulent edit of Pantami’s Researchgate profile to indicate that he was an “Associate Professor.” He also claimed that he got across to Pantami’s former colleagues at the University and they confirmed that his “last rank at the university was an “Assistant Professor” and he wasn’t qualified to be promoted to the next rank because he didn’t meet the minimum requiraements.
He also said that Pantami’s colleagues told him that to be promoted to an associate professor at the school, you need a minimum of four peer-reviewed SCOPUS-indexed journal articles and Pantami had none. Kperogri also asked for the publications which the ASUU panel claimed that external assessors evaluated.
FUTO ASUU’s Fraudulent “Clearing” of Pantami’s Fraudfessorship
By Farooq Kperogi
This is a quick, hurried response. A friend just called my attention to a news story in today’s Daily Trust about the FUTO branch of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) saying Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami’s appointment as “professor” of cybersecurity followed due process and that external assessors (whom they didn’t name) found his publications to be worthy of “promointment” (my coinage for promotion and/or appointment since the dolts at FUTO can’t decide what they have done) to the rank of professor.
These guys are comedians. Only that their comedy is humorless and fraudulent. Here are the issues. FUTO’s registrar had told the Nigerian Tribune that Pantami told FUTO that he was an “associate professor” at the Islamic University in Madinah before his relocation to Nigeria, and that Pantami’s promointment to a fraudfessorship in cybersecurity was a consequence of his last academic position. But Pantami lied, and FUTO is either too feckless or too compromised to catch his obvious lie.
In the last article he wrote while at the Islamic University in Madinah in January 2016 titled “The Importance of Identity Management Systems in Developing Countries” (which he co-authored with a Yusuf Abubakar at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University) before resigning and taking up a government appointment, he self-identified as “Asst Professor,” which is the short form of “Assistant Professor.”
Dr. Abdulaziz Tijjani called attention to the disconnect between Pantami’s last article before he accepted a government position where he identified his rank as “Asst Professor” and his fraudulent edit of his Researchgate profile to indicate that he was an “Associate Professor.”
Here’s a screenshot of the article which, by the way, is a garbage-in-garbage-out, pay-to-play, predatory article with zero editing or peer review.
And that leads to me to the next point, which FUTO’s incompetent and compromised ASUU panel glossed over in their so-called “investigation.” And that is that they did not officially write to the Islamic University of Madinah that supposedly promoted Pantami to the rank of associate professor after only two years of teaching there.
Well, I wrote to the university. Although I’m yet to get a formal response from the management of the school after two attempts, perhaps because I’m an individual, I did get across to some of Pantami’s former colleagues.
They confirmed to me that Pantami’s last rank at the university was an “Assistant Professor” and that he hadn’t qualified to be promoted to the next rank because he hadn’t met the minimum requirements. To be promoted to an associate professor at the school, they told me, you need a minimum of four peer-reviewed SCOPUS-indexed journal articles. Pantami had zero.
His articles were published in predatory journals, which are worthless in all decent schools. Some of Pantami’s colleagues are still assistant professors as I write this. His former department has a list of faculty publications on its website, which one of his former colleagues directed me to. I checked the years 2014 through 2016. None of Pantami’s fraudulent articles was listed there, obviously because they aren’t peer-reviewed or published in SCOPUS-indexed journals.
So, which publications of Pantami’s did FUTO’s external assessors evaluate? The same 10 publications on Google Scholar 80 percent of which are self-evidently low-quality, poorly edited, predatory journal articles that no self-respecting university would accept as scholarship? FUTO’s fraud is way worse than we think. I think it has truly earned my rechristening it as Fraudsters’ University of Technology!
The obviously rubber-stamped ASUU panel reportedly “strongly recommends that the University management should as a matter of urgency take appropriate actions, including legal action, against those who deliberately try to drag the image and reputation of FUTO to the mud.” Hahaha! FUTO dragged its reputation to the mud all by itself unaided.
These guys are obviously not just comical frauds, they are also pitifully lowbrow illiterates! Sue people for calling out daylight intellectual fraud? In what planet do these philistines live? OK, I am waiting for their lawsuit. Please, please and pretty please, sue me!
Islamic cleric Sheikh Ahmad Gumi recently defended his past interactions with armed groups, stating he “took the bull by the horns” in 2021 as a necessary step to address Nigeria’s insecurity.
In a post shared on Facebook on Thursday, Gumi said decades of neglect of disadvantaged populations had created deep socio-economic inequalities, leaving many youths vulnerable to manipulation by external forces seeking to destabilise the country.
According to him, the widening gap between the rich and the poor has turned many young people into “ready-made foot soldiers” in cycles of violence that enable the exploitation of Nigeria’s resources.
He also criticised the political class for being largely unresponsive, while noting that the intellectual community is preoccupied with survival struggles.
Reflecting on his past efforts, Gumi said he “took the bull by the horns” in 2021 by attempting to reintegrate violent elements into society rather than allowing them to be further radicalised.
He wrote: “Nigeria for decades has ignored the underprivileged section of its society. There is a significant socio-economic discrepancy, and the society is stratified. This makes our teaming youth ready-made foot soldiers for any foreign interest trying to divide us and rule. To plunder our resources while we are involved in a vicious circle of violence.
”Unfortunately, the political class is unattentive while the intelligentsia is held hostage in the struggle for existence.
“In 2021, I took the bull by the horns in an attempt to bring some of these uncouth elements back to our fold rather than letting them be exploited by the devil.
“I still believe this is the only way out of our predicament. However, it needs the political will and determination to achieve.
“May Allah bring peace back to our nation.”
The Federal High Court in Abuja rejected an ex-parte application seeking to bar Senator Ireti Kingibe from participating in the activities of the African Democratic Congress (ADC).
Justice Peter Lifu declined the request from Wuse Ward leaders, ruling that such an order could not be granted without first hearing from the senator.
Instead, the judge ordered the ward leaders said to be loyal to the Minister of the FCT, Nyesom Wike, to put the senator on notice to appear in court to join issues with them on their grievances.
Justice Lifu in a ruling on Thursday held that discretion in such a request for prohibition from party activities and in political matters must be exercised judicially and judiciously.
The judge said justice would be met in the case of the plaintiffs only when the side of the defendant is heard on its merit, along with that of the plaintiffs.
Consequently, the judge ordered that Senator Ireti Kingibe should be served with all court processes by the plaintiffs to enable her become aware of the suit and to prepare her defense.
The judge fixed April 20, 2026, for the plaintiffs and the serving senator to appear before him for hearing of all applications in the matter.
Those who sued the senator in the suit marked FHC/ABJ/ CV/539/2026 are Okezuo Godfrey Anayo and Isaiah Ojonugwa Samuel, on behalf of themselves and ward members as plaintiffs. The senator is the sole defendant.
In their ex-parte application, Kingibe representing the FCT in the Senate was said to have been suspended on March 10, 2026 by her Wuse Ward executives following allegations of anti-party activities and disregard of your cnstitution of the ADC.
In the ex- parte application filed on their behalf by a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, Kolawole Olowookere, the aggrieved ADC members in Wuse Ward applied for an order of interim injunction restraining Kingibe from parading herself as a member of party, pending the hearing and determination of their motion on notice for interlocutory injunction.
They also asked the judge to restrain the senator from performing any function, attending meetings or performing activities reserved for ADC members or representing the party in any activities.
Besides, the Ward Executive Committee had asked that she be restrained from further interfering with the administration of the ward, ward register and other activities.
The suit was predicated on five grounds among which are that Mrs Kingibe was placed on suspension due to anti-party activities, gross misconduct and confiscation of the ward statutory records.
They argued that the suspension followed due process as enshrined in the ADC constitution and ratified by the two thirds majority of the EXCO members.
They averred that despite the communication of the suspension to Kingibe, she has continued to hold parallel meetings, issue press statements as an ADC member, and using her security details to intimidate the executive committee.
“Her actions constitute flagrant disregard to the internal mechanism of the party,” the plaintiffs stated.
Meanwhile, a lawyer, Abubakar Marshall who claimed to be representing the senator, announced that he had filed a preliminary objection against the suit. He added that it was served on M. S. Garba, who stood for the plaintiffs at Thursday’s proceedings.
The Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lieutenant General Waidi Shaibu, visited Jos, Plateau State, on Thursday, April 2, 2026, to lead a high-powered security assessment following recent security breaches.
The visit was aimed at strengthening public confidence and reinforcing ongoing efforts to stabilize affected communities.
Colonel Appolonia Anele, acting Director, Army Public Relations, said in a statement that the visit forms part of ongoing efforts to restore calm and entrench lasting peace across the state.
According to the statement, upon arrival, the COAS was received by the Executive Governor of Plateau State, Caleb Mutfwang, in a clear demonstration of strong civil-military cooperation and a shared commitment to addressing emerging security challenges.
The statement said the COAS received a comprehensive operational briefing from the General Officer Commanding 3 Division and Commander, Joint Task Force Operation ENDURING PEACE, Major General Folusho Oyinlola, who highlighted ongoing operations and proactive measures being implemented in synergy with other security agencies to contain threats, protect lives and property, and stabilise affected communities.
“As part of his engagements, Lieutenant General Shaibu also interacted with community leaders and residents, reassuring them of the unwavering commitment of the Nigerian Army to safeguarding all law-abiding citizens.
He urged residents to remain calm, vigilant and supportive of security agencies by complying with the curfew and cooperating fully with ongoing operations and investigations, while going about their lawful activities.
The chairman of Jos North Local Government Area, Hon. Dachung Bagos, commended the COAS for the timely visit, noting that the presence of the nation’s top military leadership would boost public confidence and reinforce trust in ongoing security efforts.
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