The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Fake certificates

  • The virus of fake certificates

    The virus of fake certificates

    • By Humphrey Ukeaja

    Sir: Since Nigeria’s return to democratic rule in 1999, the nation has been tainted by a persistent and shameful trend of ministers, legislators, and other public officials occupying high offices with fake or forged academic certificates and National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) documents. This disturbing phenomenon has systematically eroded public trust in governance and exposed significant institutional weaknesses within Nigeria’s security agencies, legislative screening committees, and other bodies charged with vetting public servants.

    The recent high-profile resignation of the Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, Barth Nnaji, who was forced to step down following credible revelations that he submitted forged certificates, has once again brought this ugly issue to the forefront of national discourse. His case is far from unique but rather a continuation of a long saga of fraudulent practices among public officials that have for decades undermined the integrity of Nigeria’s democratic institutions.

    Central to this ongoing crisis is the inability or unwillingness of the Department of State Security Services (DSS), the National Assembly’s screening committees, and other vetting authorities to perform thorough and impartial background checks. The case of Barth Nnaji painfully demonstrates institutional gaps that allow individuals with forged credentials to slip through official scrutiny. Despite the availability of digital academic records and warning letters questioning his credentials, Nnaji’s documents passed the screening stages, and he served in government before journalists exposed the inconsistencies. This failure reflects systemic weaknesses ranging from incompetence, possible complicity, to political shielding, severely compromising the effectiveness of checks designed to safeguard public trust.

    Moreover, the response to the exposure of such cases has been characterized by a disturbing norm often referred to as the “bow and go” culture. Instead of mounting legal challenges, prosecuting offenders, or imposing lifetime bans, the typical approach has been a quiet resignation followed by an eventual political comeback or continued impunity. This practice not only diminishes public confidence but also reinforces the idea that evidence of forgery does not constitute grounds for serious or lasting consequences in Nigerian public life. Such impunity emboldens future aspirants to use forged credentials as an expedient means to power, confident that they will ultimately escape stringent punishment.

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    In looking outward for potential solutions, Nigeria can and must learn from other nations that have confronted similar challenges decisively. In South Africa, a centralized, technologically driven verification system ensures that all government nominees are thoroughly vetted for academic credentials before approval. Legal provisions in India harshly punish those who submit fake certificates for public office, with expedited prosecution measures that act as a strong deterrent. Even some Western democracies employ background checks backed by transparency and public accountability frameworks that expose fraud swiftly and impose lasting sanctions.

    For Nigeria, the imperative now is to institutionalize such mechanisms. The DSS and relevant screening committees must be provided with access to real-time verification databases from academic institutions and the NYSC headquarters. Legislative hearings need to prioritize transparency, with findings made public and offenders prosecuted regardless of their political stature or connections. Whistle-blower protections must be enhanced to encourage insiders to expose fraudsters without fear of reprisal. Additionally, a dedicated ethics commission or anti-corruption body should be established to oversee and monitor public office holders for any breaches of integrity, producing regular reports and sanctions.

    Nigeria’s democracy demands more than scandal-ridden resignations; it requires robust verification processes, uncompromising accountability, and transparent governance to restore public faith and ensure that holders of public office earn their positions through merit and honesty, not deception. The time for complacency and “bow and go” is over. For Nigeria to truly progress, the government must act with resolve to purge its ranks of fraudsters and affirm that integrity is non-negotiable in public service.

    •Humphrey Ukeaja,

    Abuja.

  • Fake certificates

    Fake certificates

    This is a thing government must fight even as it must expand space in our tertiary institutions

    A stunning investigative expose by a Nigerian newspaper in March this year, shed light, once again, on widespread patronage by Nigerians of universities in neighboring countries where they are issued fake certificates without meeting the conditions that should qualify them as university graduates. In this particular instance, a reporter with the Daily Nigerian, Umar Audu, sought admission into a university based in Cotonou, the Benin Republic Capital, was admitted and within six weeks, he had been issued a certificate indicating that he had met all the requirements to be issued the document. Beyond this, the reporter was enlisted to participate in Nigeria’s National Youth Service Corp (NYSC); a compulsory one year programme for all tertiary institutions’ who seek to work in the country.

    This investigative report brought to the fore, once again, the phenomenon of fake certificates in the country, which reportedly has assumed endemic proportions and is now taking a disturbing international dimension. Following the publication of this report, the Nigerian authorities immediately placed a ban on the accreditation and evaluation of certificates from universities in some neighboring countries such as Benin Republic and Togo, while investigations are being conducted on the scale and dimensions of the fraudulent practice. There is every reason to believe that the culture of striving to obtain certificates without undergoing the necessary rigour to earn them by merit, including examination malpractices, is deeply embedded and more prevalent in our society than is assumed.

    In the aftermath of the Benin Republic fake university certificate scandal, Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Education set up an inter-ministerial committee to investigate the problem and come up with recommendations to prevent future occurrences. The committee has submitted that admissions into the country’s universities must be processed through the Central

    Admissions Processing System (CAPS) of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB). Furthermore, henceforth, universities are to submit to the ministry their matriculation lists not later than three months after the completion of each admissions exercise, through channels authorised by JAMB. These measures will ensure that there is a central portal of JAMB through which the authenticity of admissions and processes can be ascertained by interested persons within and outside the country.

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    However, there are cases of some universities in these neighbouring countries which were deliberately set up to lure Nigerian students with certificate offers to be issued speedily even when the beneficiaries have not gone through the mandatory period required to be awarded the certificates meritoriously. In such instances, the Nigerian government has to work in conjunction with governments of affected countries as well as the International Police (Interpol) to bring such unscrupulous elements before the law. How about those Nigerian students who were not victims of fraud but deliberately sought out equally fraudulent universities which would auction unearned certificates to them? They should also be made to face the stringent sanctions of the law to serve as a deterrence to others.

    JAMB, in recent years, has received widespread commendation for considerably enhancing the transparency of its processes and the integrity of its examinations. This is probably one reason why students have resorted to seeking fake certificates in low grade universities in neighbouring countries. JAMB should be in touch with such universities in order to advise them appropriately on how to obtain genuine results of prospective students in Nigeria. No less critical is the urgent need to address the factors which make young Nigerians desperate enough to seek the acquisition of fake degrees in foreign universities. One critical factor in this respect is that the number of applicants who seek admissions into our tertiary institutions annually far exceeds the available spaces. Or, many candidates fail to meet the minimum requirements for their course of choice and are even not ready to accept offers for which they are qualified.

    Again, public universities at all levels are plagued by diverse challenges, including incessant strikes by unions which make it difficult for students admitted to various courses to have a clear idea of exactly when they would graduate. While most private universities have more predictable graduation timelines and better learning and accommodation facilities, their astronomical fees are beyond the affordability of millions of Nigerian youths eager for higher education. The challenge for government is thus to make qualitative public university education available for higher number of students at affordable costs. It certainly doesn’t require rocket science to achieve this. Where there is the will, the way will be found.

  • Fake certificates’ scourge

    Fake certificates’ scourge

    What could be the justification for the piecemeal implementation of the recommendations of the inter-ministerial committee on degree certificate racketeering recently set up by the federal government?

    That is the question elevated to the fore by a recent directive from the Federal Ministry of Education requiring all higher institutions to regularly submit their matriculation lists not later than three months after matriculation ceremonies. The list, the government further said, must be submitted through the “dedicated channel of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board JAMB”.

    The directive is said to be one of the recommendations of the inter-ministerial committee set up by the federal government following revelations on fake degree milling in the Republic of Benin. A national daily had unveiled how a Nigerian reporter, Umar Audu obtained a degree certificate in the Republic of Benin within six weeks and even got enrolled for the mandatory National Youth Service Corps programme, NYSC.

    Sequel to that embarrassing exposure, the federal government suspended the accreditation and evaluation of degree certificates from universities in the Republic of Benin and Togo. It went further to empanel an inter-ministerial committee to investigate the allegations and find lasting solutions to the scourge.

    But in what appeared a haphazard implementation of the committee report, the federal ministry of education just announced that the committee has submitted its report and the minister approved the above measure for implementation. Curiously, nothing was said of other recommendations of the committee or the government’s position on them.

    This has raised questions regarding the propriety of piecemeal implementation of the recommendations of the committee. The committee’s major and urgent task was to investigate allegations of degree milling in universities in neighbouring countries and at home and find lasting solutions to them. The case of foreign universities is even more urgent in view of the suspension of evaluation and accreditation of degrees from Benin and Togo.

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    Given this, the expectation is that in rolling out measures to ensure the integrity of certificates awarded by Nigerian universities, prime attention ought to be given to allegations of fake degree racketeering from Benin and Togo. Nothing of such was heard. Instead, the focus of the directive is on Nigerian universities. How that addresses the case of universities in neighbouring countries is left to be seen.

    The case of these foreign universities demand utmost resolution given the suspension placed on their degree certificates. Following that blanket ban by the Nigeria authorities, foreign universities which hitherto accepted categories of degrees from Benin and Togo for postgraduate studies have turned their backs against them.

    There have also been reports of discrimination and rejection of degrees from the two countries within the Nigerian labour market. But, not all the degree certificates from those countries are fake just as is the case with our local universities. There are accredited and recognised universities in both countries awarding internationally recognised degree certificates.

    But the suspension order has led to their rejection, albeit temporarily. Many of our sons and daughters schooled in those countries and graduated through the normal channel. As the suspension lasts, they can neither be mobilised for the mandatory NYSC programme nor get employed. That underscores the urgency for the release of government’s position on recommendations of the committee as they relate to those countries.

    Part of the measures would be the release of a list of accredited and recognised universities in those two countries. Whereas this will at once resolve the issue of fake and phony institutions, it is largely circumscribed in addressing the kind malfeasance that aided Audu to obtain a degree from a university in Benin Republic within six weeks. The latter can be taken up with the governments of those countries. But the university involved in the Audu case must be blacklisted.

    There are other measures the government can take to ensure the credibility and authenticity of degrees awarded by foreign countries just as the one it has directed the universities in the country to do. It is vital therefore that the government moves fast to unveil its position on the recommendations of the committee as they relate to the universities in Benin and Togo.

    Benin and Togo may not be alone in this scandal, just as Nigeria is not free from it. But the bug infesting the universities in those two countries may have crept in through our borders on account of proximity and geographical contiguity. This may sound uncharitable but it has sound basis on account of the high number of our citizens seeking educational opportunities in those countries.

    Universities in those countries especially the private ones, are sustained largely by the Nigerian students’ population. Since the suspension of accreditation and evaluation of degrees from Benin universities, their students’ population has pummelled. So the domino effect of the so-called Nigerian factor may have activated the scourge of fake degree mills in those countries.

    This should not be surprising to anyone. Ours is a country of illegalities, fakery and quackery. It has not always been so. How that bug came to permeate the fabric of our society remains troubling. But at the centre of its all, is bad leadership. The high level of corruption in public places and the reluctance of those in positions of authority and responsibility to play by the rules have let the society loose.

    Nobody seems to believe in standards, ennobling principles. It starts from and nurtured by some of the policies of various state governments at the secondary school levels. What do you expect when school principals are demoted and punished for the inability of their Junior Secondary School students to post excellent performances at the Junior WAEC?

    It is no longer hidden that teachers dictate answers to students at that examination level just to make sure the school is seen in the eyes of the authorities to be doing well. Doing well? With this mind-set, many of the students no longer care to pay attention during lessons, knowing they will eventually scale through even when they know practically nothing.

    It is at that level the nurturing for faking and all manner of forgeries are incubated. It should therefore not come as a surprise if a preponderance of beneficiaries of this flawed educational system take this malfeasance further by forging degree certificates and deploying same to be mobilised for the NYSC.

    That was the scenario that played out at the University of Calabar where the NYSC recently demobilised 54 fake corps members fraudulently mobilised for the programme by a syndicate. The discovery followed the observation of the vice chancellor of the institution that the list of those mobilised for the programme contained names outside those sent by the university.

    A closer scrutiny of the list exposed the 54 fraudulent names including a bread seller around the university vicinity. What a shame! The NYSC has promised to prosecute the culprits including the syndicate in the university that generated the fictitious list and assigned matriculation numbers to them. That is how bad the situation has become.

    Who knows how long this fraud has been going on before the discovery? Had this particular one gone undetected, the culprits would have had no problem printing fake degree certificates and securing jobs with them backed with the NYSC certificates.

    The University of Calabar is not alone in this as reports of certificate racketeering permeate all strata of the nation’s educational system and all arms of the government. Not long ago, Lagos State University, LASU was embroiled in embarrassing certificate selling scandal when sting operations conducted by security agencies in conjunction with its former vice chancellor resulted in startling revelations.

    That investigation exposed how certificates of the university had been sold to willing buyers for between N2million and N3million depending on the course. A syndicate of academic and non-academic staff was the brain behind the generation of matriculation numbers, award of marks and degree certificates to people who never saw the four walls of that ordinarily, highly rated institution. That is the rot in our education system.

    How to stamp out this rot both in our local universities and their foreign counterparts was the major plank of the terms of reference of the inter-ministerial committee. Curiously and despite their copious terms of reference, all we have seen is just a directive from the federal ministry of education to all higher institutions to submit their matriculation lists to the ministry not later than three months after matriculation ceremonies. Is that all there is to the recommendations of the inter-ministerial committee?

  • 22,500 Nigerians parading fake certificates from Benin Republic, Togo, says FG

    22,500 Nigerians parading fake certificates from Benin Republic, Togo, says FG

    The Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman has disclosed that over 22,500 Nigerians are parading fake certificates from Benin Republic and Togo between 2019 and 2023.

    He said that over 21,600 obtained the certificates from unaccredited universities in Benin Republic within the time frame while about 1,105 also obtained theirs at some unaccredited Universities in Togo. 

    The Federal Government also authorised the termination of employees in the public and private sectors who possess counterfeit degree certificates.

    The activities of degree mills once again came to the centre of discussions in Nigeria, following an investigative report by a reporter, Umar Audu, with the Daily Nigerian newspaper on degree mills in Benin Republic and Togo.

    The reporter revealed how he obtained a degree within six weeks and even proceeded to embark on mandatory youth service under the National Youth Service Corps scheme.

    Audu, who reached out to the syndicate that specialises in selling degree certificates in December 2022, graduated in February 2023 and was issued a Bachelor of Science in Mass Communication certificate from the Ecole Superieure de Gestion et de Technologies, Cotonou, Benin Republic.

    Reacting to this on Friday while giving his first year ministerial scorecard, Mamman said: “One of the things we did in the course of the year was — remember when information broke out about some of our students going to neighbouring countries —some not even going at all — to obtain certificates.

    “The ministry set up a committee to look into that; the committee came up with a detailed review; that review was sent to the federal executive council about a month ago, which approved some of the recommendations from the ministry.

    “Now the recommendations will be implemented along with other ministries and agencies affected, including NYSC, Immigration.

    “Because we have to take some major decisions here, some staff who are affected faced disciplinary measures, and that the whole unit went through some kind of review.

    “But by and large, we can’t have in our midst people who procure fake certificates and to compete with our students who graduated from our universities and polytechnics through their sweat, some spent four, five, six, or more years going out to compete with people who procure certificates right here without going anywhere, for a lot of them.

    “So what the FEC now approves is that, through the data, that NYSC has, about 21,684 students that are parading fake certificates from Benin Republic, obtained between 2019 to 2023.

    “Togo is about 1,105. How did that happen? They simply attend schools, which are not recognised in those countries.

    “Remember, this point is extremely important. The non-recognition itself is in those countries. They are not institutions recognised to offer degree programs in those countries.

    “Instead, some of our parents, take their wards to these institutions, and of course there is no way we would recognise qualifications which are not recognised in those countries.

    “In the case of Togo, we have three universities that are officially approved and licensed to offer degrees, and in Benin, there are about five of them.

    “So anyone who didn’t attend these universities is parading a fake certificate.

    “And from 2017, anybody who attended a university solely run in English is wasting his time because it’s not an approved university. That is their policy.

    “But a lot of our countrymen went there—some didn’t go anyway; remember, these numbers are just what we have, a lot of them didn’t even bother to go to NYSC.

    “The number may be more…Some who attempted to but couldn’t succeed in the screening process disappeared into thin air.

    “So in the final analysis, what the federal government approved is that the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, will issue a circular to all employers, whether public or private, to fish out anybody with a certificate from these institutions—that circular probably would have been out by now.

    “And the Head of Service, has also been mandated to fish out from the public service anybody who is parading certificate from these institutions.

    “So this is the decision of the federal government on this matter”.

  • Fake certificates: Varsity seeks prosecution of illegal campuses operators

    Fake certificates: Varsity seeks prosecution of illegal campuses operators

    The management of Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, Edo, has called for the arrest and prosecution of operators of illegal satellite campuses in the name of the university.

    The university in a statement on Saturday reacting to a recent report credited to the National Universities Commission (NUC), described as disturbing the purported existence of illegal satellite campuses running in the name of the university.

    The institution’s Head of Corporate Communications and Protocol, Mike Aladenika, admonished the NUC to go all out to arrest and swiftly prosecute anyone found guilty in the illegal operation.

    Aladenika applauded the NUC’s decision to “investigate the proprietors and recover illegal fees and charges on subscribers.”

    The statement added that the institution neither ran any satellite campus nor did it give anyone the permission to do so on its behalf, either directly or indirectly.

    “The Senate has not approved any satellite campus anywhere; it has not approved that any certificate be awarded in the name of the university to anyone emerging as “products” from such illegal campuses either.

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    “We have continued to emphasise this. We are glad that by reportedly using the tag “illegal” for such satellite campuses, the NUC is on the same page with us.

    “Surely, anything the university has not approved is illegal, null and void,” he said.

    The spokesperson asserted that the Ambrose Alli University was a frontline state university in Nigeria that had earned the respect of all stakeholders in the last 40 years.

    “It is a respected institution; it is more than forty years old, and has produced world class alumni, its current student population stands at more than 36,000.

    “For an institution that towers so high to be “milling certificates” through illegal satellite campuses must be a strange phenomenon.

    “We cannot, therefore, wait to see the outcome of the reported NUC “further investigations” on these reported “illegal satellite campuses.”

    Expressing delight that the regulatory body has come out strongly against institutions, issuing fake certificates, Aladenika said the school was satisfied that AAU was not listed among the “58 illegal degree-awarding universities in Nigeria.”