A civil society group known as Justice and Equity Alliance, has defended the Acting Director General of the Nigeria Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC),Mrs. Mariel RAE-Omoh against alleged certificate forgery , saying that such allegation amounts to character assassination”
In a statement the group’s Coordinator, Mallam Garba Imam, said that investigations confirmed that Mrs. Mariel attended a tertiary institution in Italy under a Federal Government scholarship in 1980 alongside other Nigerians where she bagged Higher National Diploma in Tourism and Hotel Administration.
“The translation of the certification was officially done and the Italian consulate attested to the genuineness of both the school and the certificate. The said school still exists in Italy and the records of scholarship approval are still available at the Lagos office of the Federal Ministry of Education.
“She proceeded to serve the nation under NYSC as well as bagging her Masters degree in the same field in Nigeria. It is false to allege that a graduate who studied under federal scholarship has no certificate.
“Are those peddling the rumour implying that the Federal Government sent so many Nigerians to an Italian school that does not exist? At the Italian consulate during our investigation, the consular officer also attended the same school while another lady said she enjoyed the scholarship in 1970.
“We call on the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture to get its facts right instead of acting on rumours and innuedoes. Mrs. Omoh is too cool and responsible to be involved in any unwholesome activities. Her appointment was done after due vetting and changing the decision of Mr President under false pretext is a threat to the change agenda.”
The group praised Mrs. Mariel Omoh for her reform efforts since she was appointed even as it accused those it called ‘agents of backwardness’ of flying false accusation. [myad]
