The Federal Government has announced that only eight universities in Togo and Benin Republic have been accredited to award degrees to Nigerian students.
Education Minister Tahir Mamman revealed this during an appearance on Channels Television’s *Sunday Politics* programme. He emphasized that over 22,500 Nigerians had obtained fake degree certificates from institutions in the two countries, and these certificates would be nullified.
The minister’s statement followed a report submitted to the Federal Executive Council by a committee tasked with investigating degree certificate fraud involving both foreign and local universities.
Mamman also referred to an undercover investigation in which a Nigerian journalist obtained a degree from a Benin Republic university in less than two months and used it for National Youth Service Corps deployment.
The minister explained that the government only recognizes three institutions in Togo and five in Benin Republic as legitimate for awarding degrees to Nigerians. 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, Technologies, Ingénierie et Mathématiques
4. Université Nationale d’Agriculture
5. Université Africaine de Développement Coopératif
Mamman reaffirmed that the government would proceed with the cancellation of approximately 22,700 certificates from unaccredited universities in Togo and Benin Republic. He noted that the action was necessary to protect Nigeria’s image, arguing that many of those with fake degrees never actually studied abroad but obtained certificates through fraudulent means, often with the involvement of officials.
He urged the Nigerian government and the private sector to identify and address the presence of such fake certificates in the workforce.
(Punch)