- Extends Suspension To Certificates From Uganda, Kenya, Others
- FG To Unleash Security Agents On Nigerians With Fake Certificates
- Benin Republic Varsities Alumni Fights Back, Lampoon Journalist For Fallacy Of Hasty Generalisation
The clampdown by the Federal Government on fake degrees from foreign varsities has continued with the government thundering that the government is not going to stop at Benin and Togo.
To this effect, the Federal Government has extended the sanction of suspension of the accreditation of degrees to more countries like Uganda, Kenya and Niger Republic.
The Matrix reports that trouble had started when an undercover journalist Umar Audu had blown the lid on the activities of fake degrees racketeering ring and detailed how he acquired a degree from a university in Benin Republic under two months and in fact, was deployed for the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) with the said degree.
The Federal Government had immediately swung into action and suspended accreditation of certificates from the two francophone West African nations and launched a probe which the minister said should submit its report in three months.
The dragnet was extended to over 18 varsities in total.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme on Wednesday monitored by The Matrix, the Minister of Education, Tahir Mamman disclosed that more universities fro other African Countries will be added to the blacklist.
“We are not going to stop at just Benin and Togo. We are going to extend the dragnet to countries like Uganda, Kenya, even Niger here where such institutions have been set up” he said.
The Minister also disclosed that security agents will be unleashed on Nigerians with fake certificates from foreign countries already using them to secure opportunities in the country.
Mamman also described such individuals as criminals and not victims. “I have no sympathy for such people. Instead, they are part of the criminal chain that should be arrested,” the minister said sternly.
“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 time frame 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,” Mamman said when asked what would be done to Nigerians with fake foreign certificates already within the system.
Continuing, the Minister blamed the failure of technology for the double deployment of the undercover journalist for the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme.
“I presume that’s a failure of technology. Sometimes, it happens. So, it’s for the technical people to answer that,” Mamman said.
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Audu, who had previously served in the NYSC scheme, was again deployed for the scheme and posted to Cross River State with the fake certificate obtained from the Benin Republic.
Asked why the NYSC did not detect that the reporter had served before, the minister blamed the situation on technology failure.
Mamman added that he had already discussed with the Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, “so that we simply have one identification system in our country and don’t carry different identification everywhere we go.”
Meanwhile, Obiwuru C. Rex, President Committee of Alumni Associations of Benin Universities has fought back while lampooning the reporter that carried out the investigation.
In a statement, he berated the journalist for the fallacy of hasty generalisation that he exhibited in his report.
He admitted that certificate racketeering is a common phenomenon all over the world, even in advanced countries saying such cannot be denied that it existed in Benin Republic.
“It has come to our attention that one Umar Audu, a reporter at the Daily Nigerian, has written an undercover report on how he obtained the certificate and the transcript of Ecole Superieure de Gestion et de Technologies, ESGT, Cotonou, Benin Republic, in six weeks and that he participated in the National Youth Service Corps programme of Nigerian government with the Benin Varsity Degree certificate.
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Our concern is not that the reporter conducted an undercover investigation. Our concern is the fallacy of hasty generalisation that the reporter exhibited in his report.
Certificate racketeering is a common phenomenon all over the world, even in advanced countries. Therefore, we cannot deny that such rackets exist in Benin Republic. However, it smacks of mischief and deliberate character assassination to generalise the bad experience of certificate racketeering in one university as being representative of what occurs in all the universities in Cotonou, Benin Republic.
In order not to sound defensive, we are stating unequivocally that varsities in Benin Republic are reputable for academic excellence. The universities are approved and their courses accredited by the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, Benin Republic.
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Their certificates and transcripts are genuine and are awarded after four years or thereabouts of rigorous academic training. We are not unaware that there might be chaffs in the wheat as revealed by the report of the undercover investigation. But we assure prospective applicants not only in Nigeria but also in other parts of Africa and the world that Benin varsities are not paying lip service to the highest standard of university education as obtained globally.
It will amount to injustice on the part of the Federal Government of Nigeria to punish all universities in Benin Republic and Togo because of the alleged indiscretion of one university. The Benin Republic and Nigeria have been enjoying a symbiotic diplomatic relationship and it is best to toe the line of diplomacy to resolve the issue. We appeal to the Nigerian government not to punish all for the alleged sin of one” he submitted.
