How Nigeria corruption fuels rush for fake foreign degrees
A former Minister of Education, Prof. Tunde Adeniran, has attributed the rush among Nigerians to obtain fake foreign degrees to the nation’s ‘endemic’ corruption.
Adeniran disclosed this while speaking in an interview published by Saturday PUNCH, stating that the nation has become a “certificate-hunting country.”
This comes on the heels of an investigative report by an undercover reporter, Umar Audu, documenting how he bagged a degree within six weeks of being admitted into the Ecole Superieure de Gestion et de Technologies, Cotonou, Benin Republic. and also served as a corps member in the National Youth Service Corps with the certificate obtained.
Reacting to the report, the former education minister noted that foreign universities are capitalising on the corruption in Nigeria.
“It is the corruption in Nigeria that those people are keying into because they know that we operate a very corrupt system, so they are just keying into it and taking advantage of the corruption in our country,” he said.
Adeniran lamented the prevalence of fake certificates in the Nigerian education sector, adding that the country has given preference to paper certificates rather than acquired skills, and intellectual and moral training that come with earning a degree certificate.
“People just come and say, ‘Okay, what we require is the school certificate.’ Once you produce it, that is the end. What is required is to pay or whatever it is, and that is undermining the education system.
“This is why we have individuals, so-called graduates, who can hardly construct sentences, and who cannot write a one-paragraph memo. This is why we are not achieving the real type of development we need,” he said.
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As part of measures to be implemented to curb the fake certificates issue, Adeniran said regional stakeholders in the educational sector “should come together and put forward proposals to genuinely deal with the problem because it is not just embarrassing; it is damaging to our system.”
PUNCH Online reports that the Federal Government, on Tuesday, through the Federal Ministry of Education, announced the suspension of accreditation of degree certificates from Benin Republic and Togo.
“Some Nigerians deploy nefarious means and unconscionable methods to get a degree with the end objective of getting graduate job opportunities for which they are not qualified,” Director of Press and Public Relations, Federal Ministry of Education, Augustina Obilor-Duru, stated in a statement.
The President, National Association of Nigerian Students, Benin Republic, Ikenna Favour, said the Federal Government should not apply a blanket ban on the universities, as many do not engage in certificate racketeering.
Favour said, “While we acknowledge the need for transparency and accountability, we want to emphasise that not all students in Benin Republic and Togo buy certificates. As students, we face numerous challenges and obstacles on our educational journey.
“We take our education seriously, dedicating three or more years of hard work and perseverance to acquire our academic qualifications. We believe in the value of knowledge and the importance of earning our certificates through merit and dedication.”
Following the analysis of data from the website of the National Universities Commission, The PUNCH observed that 18 foreign universities were banned by the commission.
