By Gabriel Dike and From Paul Orude, Bauchi
The management of University of Lagos (UNILAG), Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (ATBU) and Redeemer’s University on Saturday explained that the names listed as fake professors and ascribed to their institutions were not their staff.
In a swift reaction to the list of fake professors circulating in the country, the three university managements went further to state that the listed names were never staff of their institutions at any point in time.
In a disclaimer, the Head, Communication Unit of UNILAG, Adejoke Alaga-Ibraheem, said the attention of the university management had been drawn to an unsubstantiated report on social media claiming that the National Universities Commission (NUC) had uncovered fake professors in some Nigerian universities including UNILAG.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the university management, hereby, explicitly refutes the five names listed as ‘fake’ professors of the university.
“Members of the university community and the public are enjoined to completely disregard the report as the persons listed are not our staff, and have never worked, at any point in time and in any capacity at the university,” she added.
Alaga-Ibraheem re-assured that the university’s committed to its mandate of being a topnotch citadel of higher education, in deed and in truth.
In its reaction, the management of ATBU said none of the seven names mentioned in the report were staff of the university.
The university’s Directorate of Information and Public Relations in statement said the attention of the management was drawn to the trending story on social media and some online media that NUC uncovered about 100 fake professors in some Nigerian universities.
“Among the listed 100 alleged professors are the names of seven that were mentioned as staff of ATBU,” according to the release signed by Zailani Bappa, Director, Directorate of Information and Public Relations.
It added that “while the authenticity of this story itself, remains in great doubt, the management of ATBU wishes to categorically state that none of the mentioned professors is a staff of the university, nor has interacted with the institution at any given time in whatever capacity.”
The ATBU management advised stakeholders to disregard the story which it described as an attempt to smear the hard earned reputation of the university.
The management of Redeemer’s University said the NUC had denied the list of 100 fake professors making rounds
In a statement Adetunji Adeleye, Deputy Director, Corporate Affairs Directorate, Redeemer’s University, Ede, Osun State, rejected, denounced and dissociated the institution from such publication.
Adeleye noted that the persons whose names were listed as professors in Redeemer’s University were not their staff and had never worked in university at any point in time, in any capacity whatsoever.
He informed the public that “the ‘professors’ were not known to us and anyone who deals with them as individuals or a group, does so at his or her own risk.”