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By John Ogunsemore
The Federal Government has named eight universities that have been accredited to issue degrees to Nigerians in Togo and Benin Republic.
Minister of Education, Tahir Mamman made the disclosure as a guest on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics programme.
The minister spoke two days after he revealed at a press briefing that over 22,700-degree certificates obtained by Nigerians in some “fake” universities in neighbouring Togo and Benin Republic have been cancelled.
In 2023, a Nigerian journalist, Umar Audu detailed how he obtained a degree from Benin Republic in two months and even got mobilised for the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) programme.
Following the revelation, the Federal Government suspended the accreditation of certificates from the neighbouring Francophone nations and launched an investigation.
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At Friday’s press briefing, Mamman said the report of the committee tasked with the investigation which was submitted to the Federal Executive Council (FEC) recommended the voiding of the certificates obtained from the illegal institutions.
Speaking on the Channels Television programme, the minister noted that the decision to cancel the certificates from the illegal universities was not harsh as Togolese and Beninese authorities have also adjudged the issuing institutions as fake.
He maintained that only three universities in Togo and five in Benin were recognised by the Federal Government to issue degrees to Nigerians.
Mamman identified the institutions in Togo as Universite De Lome, Universite De Kara, and the Catholic University of West Africa.
The minister also identified the recognised universities in Benin Republic as Universite D’abomey-Calavi; Universite De Parakou; Universite Nationale Des Sciences, Technologis Ingenierie Et Mathematiques; Universite Nationale D’ Agriculture; and Universite Africaine De Devlopment Cooperatif.
