The Federal Government has accredited only eight universities in Togo and Benin Republic to award degrees to Nigerians.
The Minister of Education, Tahir Mamman, said this during a television interview, where he also revealed that over 22,500 Nigerians had obtained fake degree certificates from unrecognized institutions in these countries.
These fraudulent degrees are set to be canceled.
Mamman further explained that a committee had been tasked with investigating degree certificate fraud involving foreign and local universities in Nigeria.
This investigation was sparked by a journalist’s undercover report, which exposed how quickly a degree could be acquired from a Benin Republic university and used for National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) deployment.
The government has identified three recognized universities in Togo—Universite De Lome, Universite De Kara, and Catholic University of West Africa—and five in Benin Republic which are Universite D’Abomey-Calavi, Universite De Parakou, Universite Nationale Des Sciences, Technologis Ingenierie Et Mathematiques, Universite Nationale D’Agriculture, and Universite Africaine De Development Cooperatif.
Any other institutions offering degrees to Nigerians in these countries are considered illegal.
The Minister emphasized that the decision to invalidate the fake certificates is necessary to protect the integrity of the country, as those holding these fraudulent degrees have tarnished Nigeria’s image.
He also mentioned that government agencies will be tasked with identifying and removing employees with such certificates, and urged the private sector to do the same.
