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| Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman. |
Prof. Tahir Mamman, Minister of Education has said between 2019 and 2023, the Nigeria Ministry of Education discovered that over 22,500 Nigerians were utilising bogus degrees from unaccredited colleges in Benin Republic and Togo.
The minister announced this on Friday during a press conference in Abuja to commemorate his first year in office. He added that around 21,600 of these degrees were obtained from unaccredited universities in the Benin Republic, with approximately 1,105 coming from Togo.
"Sadly, these people have used the fake certificates to apply and secure job opportunities in government and private organisations with the mindset that they schooled abroad, while people who studied day and night are out there looking for job opportunities," Prof. Mamman claimed.
He went on to say that some bogus certificate holders had never actually attended the colleges.
The minister also stated that the true number of bogus certificates could be greater, as some people avoided participation in the mandated National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) program, which would have allowed the ministry to obtain their credentials. The minister stated that the ministry had uncovered certain individuals with forged certificates through NYSC databases and other sources.
Mamman acknowledged that the government is developing a directive from the Federation's Head of Service to identify and penalise those who use fraudulent certificates. He also urged private sector firms to verify the credentials of their employees, particularly those with foreign degrees, between 2019 and 2023.
Nonetheless, the minister underlined that only five universities in the Benin Republic and three in Togo are accredited to offer degree programs, and graduates of these institutions are exempt from the crackdown.
In December of last year, an undercover report by Umar Audu of the Daily Nigerian newspaper revealed the operations of degree mills in Benin Republic and Togo. Following this disclosure, the Nigerian government prohibited the authentication and examination of degrees from Benin Republic and Togo.
The investigative article documented how the Nigerian reporter earned a degree from a degree mill in Benin Republic in six weeks and then used the phoney degree certificate to complete the NYSC program.