The National Universities Commission (NUC) has identified and shut down at least 58 illegal universities or satellite campuses operating in Nigeria, adding that Certificates obtained from the institutions will not be recognized for compulsory one-year national service, employment, and further studies.
Chris Maiyaki, the Acting Executive Secretary of NUC, informed Channels Television in Abuja on Wednesday that arrests have been carried out concerning the illegitimate institutions.
Maiyaki further mentioned that the Department of State Services (DSS) played a role in cracking down on the unlawful institutions and those behind them.
The revelations followed the suspension of degree certificates from two francophone West African countries and other countries after an undercover journalist detailed how he acquired a degree from a university in the neighboring Benin Republic under two months and was subsequently deployed for the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme.
In addition, the Commission, in a public announcement signed by NUC’s acting executive secretary, disclosed the closure of these fake institutions. Maiyaki added that nine other institutions/campuses labeled as “Degree Mills” were under investigation or subject to ongoing court actions.
He emphasized that the actions were undertaken to prosecute proprietors and recuperate illegal fees levied on subscribers.
- “For the avoidance of doubt, anybody who patronizes or obtains any certificate from any of these illegal institutions does so at his or her own risk.
- “Certificates obtained from these sources will not be recognized for NYSC, employment, and further studies,” Maiyaki warned.
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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,
- “The Federal Ministry of Education vehemently decries such acts and with effect from 2nd January 2024 is suspending evaluation and accreditation of degree certificates from Benin and Togo Republics pending the outcome of an investigation that would involve the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Nigeria and the two countries, the ministries responsible for Education in the two countries as well the Department of State Security Services (DSS), and the National Youths Service Corps (NYSC),” the spokesperson for the Ministry of Education Augustina Obilor-Duru said.