The federal government has announced that it will suspend accreditation and evaluation of degree certificates from Kenya, Uganda, Niger Republic and other African countries where institutions that issue false certificates operate.
The Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, made this statement while featured on Channel TV on Wednesday.
This is coming on the heels of an investigative report that unveiled how some Nigerians deploy scrupulous means methods to get a degree from the country, to get graduate job opportunities in Nigeria for which they are not qualified.
The publication by the journalist titled “UNDERCOVER: How DAILY NIGERIAN Reporter Bagged Cotonou Varsity Degree in 6 Weeks, Participated in NYSC Scheme” made the allegations.
According to the Minister, most of these institutions that issue fake certificates don’t have physical sites or campuses. However, they are located in different countries in Africa.
He said,
- “It is a wake-up call for us and that is why we quickly swung into action to stop the recognition of certificates and qualification from those countries that are in the forefront of this business.
- “And I can tell you that we are not going to stop at just Togo and Benin. We are going to extend it to countries like Uganda, Kenya, and even Niger here where such Institutions have been set up.
- “A lot of these institutions don’t have physical locations. They just operate undercover. They don’t have a physical site.”
Security Forces to Prosecute Individuals with Fake Certificates
Mamman also said that security agents will go after Nigerians with fake certificates from foreign countries already using them to secure opportunities in the country.
The Minister, who described such individuals as criminals and not victims said he has no sympathy for such people. Instead, they are part of the criminal chain that should be arrested.
- “If along the line, we can trace that there are people already in the system. For instance, if a particular institution or operator has been operating, say in the last 10 years, we will check if we can get records of Nigerians who attended that institution.
- “Once we do that, they are criminals and you know there is no timeframe to criminality. We will trace them. As long as we can lay our hands on their institutions and they are right here with us, certainly, the security agencies will go after them because they are criminals,” he added.
Backstory
- The Federal Government on Tuesday suspended the accreditation and evaluation of degree certificates from Benin Republic and Togo.
- This move followed a report detailing how a degree was acquired from a university in Benin Republic in under two months.
- “This report lends credence to suspicions that some Nigerians deploy nefarious means and unconscionable methods to get a Degree with the end objective of getting graduate job opportunities for which they are not qualified,” a statement from the Ministry of Education noted.
