Onyeka Nwelue is a Nigerian author and filmmaker who lost his academic visitor status at Oxford and Cambridge for misusing their logos and premises. He was exposed in a March 2, 2023 report by the Cherwell newspaper, published by Oxford University students. The damning report demonstrated that the 35-year-old frequently misrepresented himself to the public for personal gain. On an online forum, Nwelue had said, “I am a university professor, attached to two of the top best universities in the world.” These are all misleading statements. He does not have an academic PhD, and was leveraging the prestigious institutions to drive his own credibility. He has reportedly apologized to Oxford for his actions.
As an agent of change, seeking the betterment of your world. The day will come when you will think that acquiring a certain status will help your cause. The need to become associated with other credible people and institutions. When you do this to the detriment of your mission, you have a problem. Or when you have to exaggerate your accomplishments in order to attract the attention of certain people. It will lead you to a spiritual state that you should avoid. If you cannot trust your productivity and results to do the talking. You will always struggle with inferiority complexes and insecurities. You will never be able to overcome impostor syndrome.
The Bible is harsh in its condemnation of lies, misleading statements, and all forms of falsehood. If you have to lie to get people’s attention, you’ve already set yourself up for failure. You do not require any status to complete your mission. What you require is education, planning, and mentoring. You must commit to doing things properly. We don’t remember great people for the titles and positions they held. We remember them for their impact. Grow your influence, thoughtfully increase your impact. Everything else, including glory and recognition, will take care of itself. If you fake it like Onyeka Nwelue, you will crash.
