Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, disclosed, on Friday, that over 22, 500 Nigerians are parading fake certificates obtained from Benin Republic and Togo between 2019 and 2023.
He said that over 21, 600 obtained the certificates from unaccredited universities in Benin Republic within the time frame, while about 1,105 also obtained theirs at some unaccredited Universities in Togo.
The Minister disclosed the information at a press conference in Abuja, to mark his first-year anniversary, adding that some of the numbers were harvested from records from the National Youth Service Corp (NYSC) and other sources.
Meanwhile, federal government has disclosed that only eight universities are accredited to award degrees to Nigerians in both Togo and Benin Republic.
This was disclosed by the Minister of Education Tahir Mamman on Sunday.
The Minister also insisted that there is no going back on the decision of the federal government to cancel about 22,700 certificates awarded to Nigerians by some “fake” universities in neighbouring Togo and Benin Republic.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics programme, Mamman maintained that the decision to invalidate the certificates was not a harsh one as Nigerians who obtained degree certificates from such “illegal” tertiary institutions are denting the country’s image and the authorities in the neighbouring Francophone West African countries also adjudged the concerned schools as fake.
Minister, during a press conference on Friday to mark his one year in office, disclosed that over 22,700 Nigerians obtained fake degree certificates from the two countries and such certificates would be cancelled.
Mamman narrated that the development was part of a report submitted to the Federal Executive Council (FEC) by a committee with a mandate to probe degree certificate racketeering by foreign and local universities in Nigeria following the undercover investigation report in which a Nigerian journalist acquired a degree from a university in Benin Republic in under two months and used it to get deployment for the National Youth services corp (NYSC).
During the programme on Sunday, the minister said the federal government only recognised three institutions in Togo and five in Benin Republic while identifying others as illegal institutions.
He lamented that most of those parading the fake certificates didn’t even leave the shores of Nigeria but got their certificates through racketeering in collaboration with government officials at home and abroad.
The minister added that the “fake universities” capitalised on the “gullibility” of Nigerians who patronise such fake schools.
According to him, the government, through the offices of the Head of Civil Service and the Secretary of the Government of the Federation, would fish out those in the employment of the government with such fake certificates. He urged the private sector to follow suit.
Mamman identified three universities which the federal government approved to offer degree programs in Togo for students from Nigeria:
1. UNIVERSITE DE LOME
2. UNIVERSITE DE KARA
3. CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF WEST AFRICA.
He also listed five accredited universities that have been authorized to provide degree programs in the Republic of Benin for students from Nigeria.
1. UNIVERSITE D’ABOMEY-CALAVI
2. UNIVERSITE DE PARAKOU
3. UNIVERSITE NATIONALE DES SCIENCES, TECHNOLOGIES
INGENIERIE ET MATHEMATIQUES.
4. UNIVERSITE NATIONALE D’ AGRICULTURE.
5. UNIVERSITE AFRICAINE DE DEVELOPMENT COOPERATIF.
The five officially recognized universities in Cotonou, Benin Republic, are all public.
