The Federal Government has revealed that only eight universities in Togo and Benin Republic are accredited to award degrees to Nigerians.
This came as the government tackled university degree certificate fraud across the country.
The accredited foreign insitutions were disclosed by the Minister of Education, Professor Tahir Mamman, during an interview with Channels Television.
Mamman had during a press conference last Friday to mark his one year in office, disclosed that over 22,500 Nigerians obtained fake degree certificates from the two countries, stressing that such certificates would be canceled.
The minister said the list was part of a report submitted to the Federal Executive Council by a committee set up to probe degree certificate racketeering by foreign and local universities in Nigeria.
The minister added that the development followed the undercover investigation report in which a Nigerian journalist acquired a degree from a university in Benin Republic in less than two months which he subsequently used to get deployed for the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC).
Speaking during the programme, the minister declared that the federal government only recognised three institutions in Togo and five in Benin Republic, while classifying the rest as illegal institutions.
He listed the public universities approved by the federal government to offer degree programmes in Togo for students from Nigeria to include Universite De Lome, Universite De Kara and Catholic University of West Africa.
The five universities authorised to offer degree programmes for Nigerians in Benin Republic are 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.
The minister also insisted, that there is no going back on the decision of the federal government to cancel about 22,700 certificates awarded to Nigerians by some “fake” universities in the neighbouring countries.
He maintained that the decision to invalidate the certificates was not harsh as Nigerians who obtained degree certificates from such “illegal” tertiary institutions diminish the country’s image.
He said, “Most of those parading the fake certificates didn’t even leave the shores of Nigeria, but got their certificates through racketeering in collaboration with government officials at home and abroad.
“The “fake universities” capitalised on the “gullibility” of Nigerians patronising such fake schools.
“The federal government, through the offices of the Head of Civil Service and the Secretary of the Federation, would fish out those in the government’s employment with such fake certificates. I also urge the private sector to follow suit.”
