The Nigerian Government, through the Federal Ministry of Education, has inaugurated an eight-man investigative panel on degree certificate racketeering by both foreign and local private universities in Nigeria.
The panel, which is chaired by Professor Jibrin Amin, who is the current Chairman Board of Trustees of the Committee of Vice Chancellors of Nigerian Universities, is expected to submit a report of the investigation in two (2) months.
The Minister of Education, Professor Tahir Mamman, while inaugurating the panel, urged them not to leave any stone unturned in the process of the investigation.
“Please do not blink to anybody. You have our trust, the confidence of the government.
There is no way Nigeria will promote laziness and criminality above productivity,” he said.
He said Nigerians who possess certificates from unapproved universities across the globe and are using them will be treated as criminals and not victims.
“They will be hunted down, even if it is for the past 15 years. Whatever positions they are occupying, they will be relieved of them. Thank God we have security personnel as part of the panel,”the minister added.
According to him, fillers indicate that the certificate racketeering phenomenon goes beyond Nigeria and many other African countries to countries outside Africa.
“From some of the information we have, it is not only from our immediate neighbours. It is from far and wide, up to central Africa and even outside Africa. This institution is called Degree Mills. They are known all over the world.
“We need to protect Nigeria and Nigerians, protect the integrity of our system, and those who have worked very hard to acquire qualifications in Nigeria and abroad.
“Those who acquire these fake certificates within weeks by sitting in the corner of their rooms or going across the border do not bring skills to the table,” said Mamman.
Private Universities
The Minister of Education said that, apart from foreign institutions, there was a need for the committee to also look into the activities of private universities.
“We also need to know if the private universities, after being given a certificate to operate, provide quality service, because there are also complaints here and there on the quality of services offered
We are using this widow to identify such institutions,”he said.
The Minister of State for Education, Dr Tanko Sununu, in his remarks said that the set-up of the inter-ministerial investigative panel was instructive as it will ensure that certificates used in Nigeria are not only genuine but also qualitative and can engage with global competitiveness.
“While protecting our local certificates, we must ensure that whatever certificate that is coming into the country must be of global standard.
I want the committee to be firm in their work, even if it means inviting us as ministers to appear before the committee,”said Sununu.
The development is coming on the heels of public outcry based on investigative journalism by a reporter, who was able to obtain a university degree from the Benin Republic within six weeks, tender the same for NYSC, mobilized, and went to the camp for the service year.
The Chairman of the Investigative Panel, Professor Jubrin Amin, thanked the minister for the confidence reposed in them, promising to do their best to restore confidence in Nigerian university graduate certificates.
“As a nation, we need to reward excellence and hard work, and we need to punish indolence. We thank the minister for responding on behalf of the country. This is an issue that has been festering in the Nigerian university system.
“We urge the staff of the Federal Ministry of Education to cooperate with us. We thank God that a member of the NUC is part of the panel, which will make the job very easy,”said Professor Amin.
The Investigative Panel
The terms of reference of the investigative panel, according to the minister are to:
“Examine the veracity of the allegations of degree certificate racketeering within both foreign and local private universities in Nigeria;
Review the role of any Ministry, Department or Agency (MDA) or its officials (including identifying such officials) in the facilitation of the recognition and procurement of the fake certificate in question;
Review existing policies and procedures related to accreditation and certification to identify weaknesses contributing to the issue;
Examine the rules, procedures, and processes for recognition and accreditation of foreign universities and programs 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;
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;
Examine the extant rules procedures and processes for granting provisional licences to new universities by the National Universities Commission (NUC);
Examine the procedures and processes for periodic accreditation of programmes in the universities by the NUC and examine their effectiveness in quality assurance of the programmes;
Without prejudice to the periodic accreditation exercise of the NUC, examine whether or not private universities established in the last 15 years have in the place prescribed facilities, appropriate management structure, adequate funding of programmes, requisite staff (nature of the staff – full-time, contract, adjunct, visiting, other types).”
Members of the committee/panel include Professor Jibrin Amin, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Committee of Vice Chancellors of Nigerian Universities; Dr Chris Maiyaki, Acting Executive Secretary of the NUC; Ambassador Lazarus I. Kpasaba, Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Abel Olarewaju, Office of the National Security Adviser; Omeh Nwokpoku, Office of the National Security Adviser; Amina Lugga, Federal Ministry of Youth and Development; Mrs Doom Iyortyom, Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB); and a representative from the Federal Ministry of Justice.
The secretariat is provided by the Federal Ministry of Education.
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