FG to investigates private universities over fake certificate concerns

The Federal Government has requested public submissions as it opens an investigation of private universities founded over the last 15 years.

The Federal Government launched the investigation after an investigative article by Daily Nigerian journalist Umar Audu revealed certificate racketeering in nearby Benin Republic and Togo.

Topnaija discovered that 107 private institutions had been formed in the last 15 years.

The Federal Government’s Inter-Ministerial Investigative Committee on Degree Certificate Milling will be looking into “whether or not private universities established in the last 15 years have in place prescribed facilities, appropriate management structure, adequate funding of programmes, requisite state, and nature of the staff – full-time, contract, adjunct, visiting and other types.”

The committee, on Tuesday, noted that the probe was “without prejudice to the periodic accreditation exercise of the National Universities Commission.”

“Memoranda from the general public are, therefore, solicited to provide information to the committee to help it make appropriate recommendations to address the menace in line with its terms of reference,” the committee said.

Investigative journalist Audu from Daily Nigeria detailed in his late-year investigative investigation how he completed his degree programme from Benin Republic in six weeks and even started his mandated youth service under the National Youth Service Corps programme in his home country.

In response, the federal government declared on January 9, 2024, that it would look into private universities that had been founded within the previous fifteen years.

While launching the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Fake Degrees and the Activities of Degree Mills in the Nation, Prof. Tahir Mamman, the Minister of Education, disclosed this information in Abuja.

Jibrila Amin, the committee chairman, stated that the interministerial committee would “Review the role of any MDA or its officials (including identifying such officials) in the facilitation of the recognition and procurement of the fake certificate in question.”

The committee is also expected to ”examine the rules, procedures and processes for recognition and accreditation of foreign universities and programmes by the Federal Ministry of Education; Establish if unapproved foreign institutions (Degree Mills) exist or not in Nigeria in whatever form with their identities and locations if any.”

It will also “make appropriate recommendations for review of any rules, procedures, and processes to prevent re-occurrence and sanctions for identified erring officials.

“Make other recommendations that will strengthen the system of recognition, accreditations and quality assurance of degrees in Nigeria and examine the extant rules, procedures and processes for granting provisional licenses to new universities by the National Universities Commission.”