The recent revelations by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) about the widespread use of fake A-level certificates to gain admission into higher education institutions in Nigeria are yet another alarming reminder of the deep-rooted problem of academic fraud in the country.
According to JAMB, they uncovered an astounding 1,665 fake A-level results during the 2023 Direct Entry registration exercise alone.
The fact that 397 of these fraudulent certificates came from Colleges of Education, 453 were university diplomas, and the rest were other A-level certificates, shows that the problem is pervasive across the academic spectrum.
In the considered opinion of this newspaper, this crisis has implications that go far beyond the education sector, representing a serious threat to the integrity of Nigerian institutions and the nation as a whole.
We are appalled that despite the controversies that had trailed certificates sleaze in the country, apart from knee-jerk reactions by the federal government, nothing has been done to mitigate it, and if anything, it seems to be rising by the day.
The buying of certificates and related academic frauds have been in Nigeria longer than we can imagine. It is a fact that many Nigerians we see today carrying certificates, especially politicians, either bought or forged the certificates, perhaps the reason there’s no political will to tackle it.
There are probably more people in Nigeria with bought or forged certificates than anywhere else in the world as audits carried out in most states of the federation have revealed.
We recall that in January this year, the government had said security agents would go after Nigerians with fake certificates from foreign countries already using them to secure opportunities in the country.
An undercover journalist had detailed how he acquired a degree from a university in Benin Republic under two months and, in fact, deployed for the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC).In the wake of the development, the federal government banned the validation of degree certificates from the two Francophone West African nations and launched a probe, which the minister said should submit its report in three months.
We are worried that three months after the inauguration of the committee, partly as a result of the outrage that greeted it, nothing has been done till date.
Also in February this year, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had affirmed his administration’s determination to tackle the proliferation of fake degree certificates even as he vowed to enforce stringent measures against perpetrators.
Speaking at the convocation ceremony of the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University in Bauchi State, he emphasized the need for global standards in Nigerian universities and promised sustained efforts to enhance the education sector.
For us as a newspaper, we are of the view that until we move from rhetoric to decisive action that would serve as a deterrent, the era of fake certificates will continue to boom.
JAMB registrar Ishaq Oloyede stated that it was the revelations from Bayero University, Kano, where out of the 148 Direct Entry applications to the institution, only six of the certificates forwarded for processing were genuine that prompted the meeting of critical stakeholders, who met to chart ways of combating the menace.
Fake certificates pose a serious threat to the nation, and in more developed countries, this issue would be treated as a ‘war’ against the country.
According to a report by the Academic Credentials Evaluation Institute, Inc. (ACEI Global), based in Los Angeles, CA, USA, on December 2, 2023, Israeli police arrested 40 Israeli doctors, medical interns, and pharmacists who had presented false credentials to Israel’s Health Ministry.
This newspaper queries how well the law in place has been exploited to mete out punishments to fake certificate peddlers, considering the fact that Section 467 of the Criminal Code Act in Nigeria prescribes punishment for forgery in general.
Any person who forges any document, writing, or seal is guilty of an offense, which, unless otherwise stated, is a felony, and he is liable, if no other punishment is provided, to imprisonment for three years.
Collaborating with the JAMB registrar, it should be of grave concern if no one respects the certificate one is holding; hence, the need to safeguard the integrity of A’level certificates and any other certificates that are used to secure admission through measures that would stand the test of time in the country.
We also endorse the constitution of an A’level result verification task force as well as the creation of a common platform for the verification of A’level results and certificates as proffered by JAMB since the platform is reliable and user-friendly, as it only takes five minutes to verify any given certificate.
Nigeria can no longer afford to be complacent. The time has come for a comprehensive, sustained crackdown on academic fraud, with tough penalties for offenders and reforms to address the root causes.
Only then can we begin to restore trust in our educational qualifications and ensure that Nigeria’s future is shaped by people of genuine talent, skills and integrity.
