In an era where credentials hold immense value, the rise of fraudulent practices to acquire tokunbo degrees is undermining the foundation of trust in academic achievements.
This escalating menace not only jeopardises the credibility of educational institutions but also undermines the trust that society places in the qualifications earned by individuals.
The implications extend beyond the realm of academia, infiltrating various sectors where credentials serve as the bedrock of competence and expertise.
As the shadows of fraudulent qualifications threaten the very essence of academic integrity, I have signaled the urgency for collaborative efforts to stem the tide and fortify the integrity of our educational credentials.
Recently, an undercover journalist, Umar Audu, in an investigative report exposed a booming certificate racketeering syndicate in neighbouring African countries like Benin Republic and Togo, that specialises in selling university degrees to willing buyers in Nigeria.
However, the issue of certificates racketeering is not new in Nigeria. The National Universities Commission (NUC) previously identified at least 58 illegal universities or satellite campuses operating in Nigeria.
The Commission warned that certificates obtained from the institutions will not be recognised for the purposes of compulsory one-year national service, employment, and further studies.
Moreover, the former executive secretary of NUC, Professor Abubakar Rasheed Adamu, had lamented that some of the administrators of these fake institutions are often Nigerians running private universities in Benin.
As a result, the commission had warned students about fake degrees from foreign universities, with particular reference to those from Benin.
He also said that the NUC had found institutions where academic projects and theses were on sale for about NGN3,000 (about US$7.32) per.
Meanwhile, the National President of the Congress of University Academics, CONUA, Dr. Niyi Sunmonu, opined that desperation for certification at the detriment of relying on competence to reward people, had driven many to commit unholy acts such as forgery, impersonation among others.
“What comes to mind is the desperation for certificate acquisition. The decline in the quality of education was brought about by the myriads of problems such as strikes, poor funding, lack of resources to teach and to motivate lecturers. It is not everybody that is cut out for academics, but unfortunately, we have placed so much emphasis on certificates,” he said.
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