The Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, has expressed concern that over 22,500 Nigerians are parading fake certificates obtained from universities in neighbouring countries of Benin Republic and Togo between 2019 and 2023.
Breaking it down, Mamman explained that over 21,600 of them obtained the fake certificates from an unaccredited universities in Benin Republic within the time in focus, while about 1,105 others obtained theirs from some unaccredited universities in Togo.
He said processes have been put in place to identify and fish out those Nigerians who used the fake certificates from Republic of Benin and Togo to secure job opportunities in government and private organisations.
According to him, they will be prosecuted through the Ministry of Education.
The Daily Crucible reports that months ago, an online news platform based in the northern part of Nigeria through its undercover reporter exposed how a degree could be obtained within six weeks and how the holder could also embark on mandatory youth service under the National Youth Service.
The minister, who made this known on Friday in Abuja at a press conference to mark his first year in office, said some of the numbers were obtained from records from the National Youth Service Corp (NYSC) and other sources.
He wondered why Nigerians would rush to patronise those universities even when the authorities in Benin and Togo did not accredit them to offer degree programmes.
The minister admitted that a circular was being prepared from the Office of Head of Service of the Federation that would enable them fish out the people for prosecution.
“From all indications, the figure is higher than what we have already. This is because some of the people choose not to participate in the mandatory NYSC scheme and other engagements that would have enabled us to harvest their data.
“Sadly, these people have used the fake certificates to apply and secure job opportunities in government and private organizations with the mindset that they schooled abroad, while people who studied day and night are out there looking for job opportunities.
“I don’t know how Nigerians chose to go to unaccredited institutions abroad to ‘study’. Our investigations also indicated that many of the people never even attended the school physically.
“Private sector operators are also encouraged to carry out further investigations on their staff who are parading foreign certificates, and ensure that anyone parading a certificate obtain from these countries between 2019 and 2023 are fished out and handed over to the Federal Ministry of Education for prosecution. The circular from the Head of Service will also be binding on private sector operators,” he said.
He clarified that only five universities in Benin and three in Togo, were accredited to offer degree programmes, saying people that passed through those schools are exempted from the looming punitive measures.
However, he also disclosed the progress being made by the federal government in tackling the out – of – school children issues in the North, saying about four million of such children have been taken off the streets and returned to the classrooms through several of its programmes mainly championed by the National Commission for Almajiri and Out-of-school Children.
He said: “Our target is to see about 3 to 4 million children leave the streets and return the school annually, and if that is successfully achieved, then by the end of the administration, significant achievements would have been made as regards the out-of-school children.”
