Ignorance in High Places: The Umahi–Oseni Verbal Clash

Ignorance in High Places: The Umahi–Oseni Verbal Clash

Abayomi Aiyepola

The recent exchange between David Umahi, Minister of Works, and Rufai Oseni of Arise TV once again revealed how easily people in high places throw academic titles around without understanding their meaning.

During the live interview, Oseni questioned Umahi’s claim of being a professor, asking for clarification on his appointment and the cost breakdown of the Lagos–Calabar coastal highway.

Instead of addressing the question, Umahi flared up, dismissing Oseni as “ignorant” and accusing him of trying to “learn engineering from the back door.”

Umahi’s defense rested on his years of engineering experience, but that’s not how academia works. A Professor of Practice is a legitimate title, yes, but one that is formally conferred by a university on distinguished professionals who have excelled in a field and can bridge theory with real-world application. It involves an official appointment, faculty approval, and teaching responsibilities, not self-proclamation.

As it stands, there is no record or documentation showing Umahi’s formal appointment under that title in any recognized institution.

Perhaps the Minister does not know that Rufai Oseni, a graduate of Animal Science from the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB), which also happens to be my alma mater — actually underwent compulsory exposure to engineering fundamentals as part of his degree. In FUNAAB, animal science students are required to audit engineering courses for at least two years, and also complete a year of SIWES training that involves practical, hands-on work with machines, structures, and environmental systems.

So when Umahi dismissed Oseni as an outsider to engineering, it only revealed how limited his own understanding of multidisciplinary agricultural training is.

Maybe the Minister should sit with his counterpart in the Ministry of Education for a quick briefing on how Nigerian universities structure their curricula before tossing around words like “ignorance.”

I am no agricultural or animal scientist myself, but the way people casually ridicule such disciplines is appalling.

It exposes not just prejudice, but a deep lack of exposure.

Agriculture, including animal science is an interdisciplinary field combining biology, engineering, and economics to sustain national development. Those who mock it only betray how little they know.

For context, if Umahi truly wants to see a genuine example of a professional who also holds a legitimate academic title, he can look to the Olowu of Owu Kingdom, HRM Oba (Prof.) Saka Adelola Matemilola (Otileta VII); a Cambridge PhD holder and a real professor whose academic and professional contributions are both verifiable and respected.

Titles are not mere ornaments for power display. They are earned, conferred, and sustained through knowledge, contribution, and integrity.

Until people in high places learn this, we will keep mistaking loudness for learning and arrogance for authority.