Federal Government has listed only eight universities accredited to award degrees to Nigerians in Togo and Benin Republic.
Minister of Education, Tahir Mamman, disclosed this on Sunday night while speaking on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics programme.
Last Friday, during a press conference to mark his one year in office, the Minister disclosed that over 22,500 Nigerians obtained fake degree certificates from the two countries, and such certificates would be cancelled.
Mamman said the revelation was part of a report submitted to the Federal Executive Council by a committee with a mandate to probe degree certificate racketeering by foreign and local universities in Nigeria.
According to the Minister, the development followed the undercover investigation report in which a Nigerian journalist acquired a degree from a university in Benin Republic under two months and used it to get deployed for the National Youth Service Corps.
The Minister while speaking during the programme, said the Federal Government only recognised three institutions in Togo and five in Benin Republic while declaring others as illegal institutions.
Mamman identified the underlisted public universities below as the federal government-approved institutions to offer degree programmes in Togo for students from Nigeria.
1. Universite De Lome
2. Universite De Kara
3. Catholic University of West Africa
Mamman also listed five accredited universities authorized to provide degree programmes in Benin Republic for students from Nigeria.
1. Universite D’abomey-Calavi
2. Universite De Parakou
3. Universite Nationale Des Sciences, Technologis Ingenierie Et Mathematiques
4. Universite Nationale D’ Agriculture
5. Universite Africaine De Devlopment Cooperatif
The minister stressed that the Federal Government would not reverse its decision to cancel about 22,700 certificates awarded to Nigerians by some “fake” universities in neighbouring Togo and Benin Republic.
He maintained that the decision to invalidate the certificates was not harsh as Nigerians who obtained degree certificates from such “illegal” tertiary institutions dent the country’s image.
Mamman said, “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 “fake universities” capitalised on the “gullibility” of Nigerians patronising such fake schools.
“The Federal Government, through the offices of the Head of Civil Service and the Secretary of the Federation, would fish out those in the government’s employment with such fake certificates. I also urge the private sector to follow suit.”