INTERVIEW: How we erroneously employed sodomy convict as lecturer

In June, PREMIUM TIMES published a story that exposed how a former military officer, Bello Magaji, convicted of sodomy, avoided jail, got a pardon, and landed a job at the American University of Nigeria (AUN) in Yola, Adamawa State.

In this interview with our reporters – Qosim Suleiman, Ademola Popoola and Fareedah Bakare – the President of AUN, Dwayne Frazier, speaks on how the institution is handling the matter.

PT: PREMIUM TIMES recently published an expose about one of your staff members, Dr. Bello Magaji, who turned out to be someone who was convicted but never served his time. We would like to hear what was the thought of the university when that story came out?

Dwayne: Let me just point out that I just didn’t know. And then, to be able to find out exactly this, we jumped into action immediately. So, we did go on administrative leave, and then we’d have committees together because Nigeria is governed by the rule of law, just like the United States, third largest democracy in the world.

So, we wanted to make sure everybody gets their fair say, their fair hearing. So, that’s ongoing. But we have made sure that he gets his fair say on why military experience was not placed on the resume and all these different things. And we’re going to do what’s fair.

PT: One of the famous questions we got after doing this story was how the university did not find this out? What did you find during your background check, and how did these facts slip by the checks?

Dwayne: He was hired before my administration. Different birthdays were written in there, and so that can get confusing. I didn’t realise, I wasn’t the one doing the background checks, and I also didn’t realise how unfortunate that people do put two different birthdates. So, it’s hard to tie people sometimes; even sending things to the military, other things that were out there that could have been falsified.

I’m not sure, but the biggest issue for most universities, and this is across the board at a macro level, is that people need to always place their complete work history on their application. You can’t just come back always and say, “Well, you know, that wasn’t relevant, this wasn’t important.” Let us make that determination if it was relevant.

You know, we might be having a different conversation if everybody knew everything from the beginning and said, ‘Well, this is not the right place for you, or this is the right place for you, but let’s do this and that.’ And then it wouldn’t have been such a surprise, because when things are a surprise to your employer and it makes them look like they were caught in the headlights in some way, that’s not good for anybody: not good for the candidate, it’s not good for the employee, it’s not good for the university or even the leadership. So, I say all of that in the most loving way I can, because the truth is everybody deserves their day in court.

PT: What exactly did the military tell you?

Dwayne: Once again, we’ve always had a great relationship with the military, so this is not me trying to say anything rude about them. But I think with the different birth date and then the picture where he’s aged, they could not identify that this was the same person that was in that rank. But as you probably already know, it’s hard when you get a letter that says that he was honourably discharged.

I would have never thought you would be honourably discharged, even if a presidential pardon came later and you got all the full benefits. And once again, I’m not a Nigerian, so I don’t always understand the nuances of that. But I know in the US that you wouldn’t be able to do that. So, all of it put me in a little bit of a surprise mode.

But once again, ultimately, that’s my fault. I shouldn’t be surprised. I’m learning as fast as I can. But the rest of my team has been very helpful, which includes many Nigerians and Americans.

But we’ve been able to make sure. And we’ve got great Governing Council members who understand law and other things. And they’ve been very instrumental in helping us. And it’s not about a public image or trying to protect yourself. If it’s about doing it right. That’s what matters to me.

PT: We asked Bello Magaji why he did not disclose this record to the university and his response was that the university never asked. Is that true?

Dwayne: That is not true because in the application, it’s very clear. Anybody who wants to apply for a job, and you’ll see it asks for your complete work history. You don’t just go back and say, I didn’t like that school.

Do you think if I didn’t include every university I worked for and be able to put the jobs that I was in, the firm in the United States that brought me here through the Board of Trustees, the largest academic search firm in the United States, would have hired me for this? They verified every credential; they called every school to see where I worked and if it was the right title. They wouldn’t have hired me if I left something out because they would think that you’re trying to hide something. And once again, I’m not saying he was trying to hide, but let’s keep in mind that when you omit something that’s over a decade-long service, it has to be relevant to what you’re doing.

I come from an Army family on one side, the US Army. They were based at Fort Knox, Kentucky, family in Heidelberg, Germany. The military teaches a lot about character and leadership, and teaches people how to work in systems.

And so that’s very relevant to being in an American university or any university. So, to say it’s not relevant and we didn’t ask- we did ask. It’s on the application. It’s in the materials. It doesn’t say, “Were you in the military? No. It says, all your work areas, and it asks all of those questions, you know, any criminal conviction.

I’m not a scholar of legality, but let’s remember that a presidential pardon in my country and in your country is important for the repercussions or the penalties that you get. But it does not reverse the fact that there was a conviction at that time. It just takes away all the penalties and everything. It doesn’t erase time.

Something happens in time. So, if I ask you today, have you ever been found guilty in a court? You can still put “I was pardoned”.

But you’re being disingenuous if you’re not telling me that happened. And I’m telling you, none of this did happen. And once again, I’ll step back again and just say, as a human being, as a person, during our time with him, he did do a good job. He’s not a mean person. He’s always been very helpful with me and everything.

But the rules are the rules, and integrity is integrity, and what’s right is what’s right, and we have to be honest with each other. So, even if that penalty has been taken away, it comes back to the committee and the group to look at: was it germane to him placing that there? And with the different birth dates and the other things, was that done to mislead us from that case? And if that’s the case, then that places us in a situation, that, we are in a law school, that is the people that are supposed to keep the law, so will that cause a challenge for people studying under someone, who quote and unquote might have obstructed the law.

PT: Just a day after our story was published, we were informed that the university suspended Dr Magaji indefinitely. It’s been close to a month now. Can you tell us how that suspension is going? Have there been some panels of inquiry, and what were the findings so far?

Dwayne: I can’t tell you exactly the findings, because it will be out pretty soon. But what I can tell you is the first group is all about substantiating what is said in the application, to give him his time. So, he was able to talk with them and share with the committee. The committee included some staff, faculty of the fellow rank, all of us.

We had our legal counsel, in-house legal counsel. So, we had a really good group. They listened to him, let him have his day and his conversation about why, and then they wrote up a report. And so whatever findings they come up with in that time period, there will be another group that can help me and advise me on what penalty, based upon our employee handbook and recommendation. And it would be before too long.

READ ALSO: How army officer convicted of sodomy avoided jail, got pardon, landed top university jobs

PT: Can you tell us what Dr Bello Magaji’s reaction was like when all of this came out and the university suspended him? Did he protest it? Was he just calm about it?

Dwayne: You know, he was actually calm. I told you I’ve never had any disagreement, fights, anything. He’s always been very, very kind to me and kind to other people, and very gentle. So, in that aspect, and I do point that out because this is not me trying to assassinate anyone’s character. Personally, he’s always been nice and kind to me. So, I judge people based on my interactions with them. But laws are laws, rules are rules, integrity is integrity.

But he didn’t. You know, when I first asked and said that PREMIUM TIMES said you are the same person, he said, “Yeah, I’m the same person, but I was pardoned.” So he was a little nonchalant, which was a little different to me, on something I felt was a pretty major situation. But he wasn’t rude. He wasn’t mad about it. He knew that he would follow the process and see where it goes. So, from that part, I have to say that I was happy about that because it wasn’t an easy thing to have a conversation with someone about this. But after that, he didn’t feel like he could talk to us, and I understand that, without legal counsel.

So, we’ll just go for these two months, or 30 to 60 days, and we’ll have that final decision. So, that’s completely in his right. Everybody has the right to be represented; even lawyers have the right to be represented from outside because of the emotions that could be involved when it involves us personally.