The Minister of Education, Prof Tahir Mamman, has vowed to eliminate workers with counterfeit certificates from both public and private organizations.
He made this commitment in Abuja while receiving the report of an inter-ministerial investigative committee on degree certificate forgery, chaired by Prof. Jubrila Amin.
Expressing concern over the integrity of Nigeria’s education system, Mamman stated that it was possible that some individuals in public and private sectors were using fake certificates.
He emphasized the need to address this issue urgently, describing the report as the outcome of a thorough investigation.
Mamman expressed dismay that individuals who graduated with lower honors from Nigerian institutions were now presenting themselves with higher honors from international institutions.
He reiterated the ministry’s determination to cleanse the system and uphold educational standards in the country.
In his presentation of the report, Prof. Amin criticized the poor standards of education in the schools investigated, particularly those issuing degree certificates.
He recommended the digitization and automation of the entire education system to enhance monitoring and evaluation of tertiary institutions.
The committee chairman highlighted the inadequacy of the current accreditation and evaluation process, suggesting the establishment of more universities in Nigeria to train PhD holders and reduce the reliance on foreign certificates.
Prof. Amin urged the National Universities Commission (NUC) to pay closer attention to institutions offering part-time or sandwich programs to prevent a recurrence of the 2017 incident involving unaccredited courses.
He also emphasized the need for the Ministry of Education to scrutinize certificates obtained from certain foreign institutions, as many Nigerians were obtaining fake degrees from abroad. He called for strict measures to identify and penalize individuals with counterfeit certificates.
The Minister of Education had earlier inaugurated an inter-ministerial committee on January 9 to investigate allegations of degree racketeering in both foreign and local private universities.
The committee was tasked with reviewing the involvement of any Ministry, Department, or Agency (MDA) in facilitating the recognition and procurement of fake certificates.
