The Federal Government has announced that only eight universities are accredited to confer degrees on Nigerians in Togo and Benin Republic.
This statement was made by the Minister of Education, Tahir Mamman, during an appearance on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics programme. He disclosed that over 22,500 Nigerians had received fake degree certificates from these countries, which will now be invalidated.
The revelation is part of a report presented to the Federal Executive Council by a committee investigating degree certificate fraud involving both foreign and local universities. This decision follows an undercover investigation where a Nigerian journalist obtained a degree from a Benin Republic university in under two months and used it to join the National Youth Service Corps.
According to Mamman, the Federal Government officially recognises three universities in Togo and five in Benin Republic. The approved institutions in Togo are:
1. Université de Lomé
2. Université de Kara
3. Catholic University of West Africa
In Benin Republic, the accredited universities are:
1. Université d’Abomey-Calavi
2. Université de Parakou
3. Université Nationale des Sciences, Technologiques, Ingénierie et Mathématiques
4. Université Nationale d’Agriculture
5. Université Africaine de Développement Coopératif
Mamman emphasised that the decision to annul about 22,700 certificates issued by “fake” universities is final. He asserted that this action is necessary to protect the country’s reputation, as many of these certificates were obtained through fraud.
He stated, “Many of those holding fake certificates never even left Nigeria but obtained them through racketeering in collusion with officials at home and abroad. These fake universities exploited Nigerians’ gullibility.”
The minister also mentioned that the government would identify individuals with fake certificates within its ranks and urged the private sector to do the same.
