President and co-founder, Centre for the Development of Technical Economic and Commercial Learning, Prof Tunde Adeyemi has refuted the claim that only three universities are officially accredited to award degrees in the Republic of Togo.
The Minister of Education, Tahir Mamman had during a press conference to mark his one year in office disclosed that over 22,500 Nigerians obtained fake degree certificates from the two countries, saying such certificates would be cancelled.
However, in a swift reaction, Adeyemi who spoke with journalists in Lagos said, “The statement from the minister of education that only three institutions or universities are accredited to award degrees in the Republic of Togo has been debunked by the Ministry of Higher Learning in Togo to be a misinterpretation of information.
He added that, “The logical explanation to this is that the committee from the Nigerian Ministry of Education misinterpreted the information from the ministry in Togo as they were informed of the structure of academics in Togo which is also being employed in other French-speaking countries, developed countries in Europe, Asia and America.
“They were informed about the French education ranking of higher learning institutions that awarded degrees, which are universities that consist of faculties, colleges, institutes, centres and higher colleges with all the above categories are degree-awarding institutions.”
He further stated that apart from the three universities mentioned by the Nigerian ministry, there are over 40 degree-awarding institutions in the Republic of Togo made available to the committee on diplomatic channels for further clarification.
He implored the Nigerian ministry and the general public to access the lists of some of the private higher institutions in Togo, through the registered association by the Ministry of Higher Learning in the Republic of Togo from a dedicated website.
According to him, the Nigerian privately owned Centre for the Development of Technical, Economics and Commercial Learning is fully registered and accredited by the Togolese government to award degrees in various accredited courses of specialisation with over two decades of accreditation intact from 2003 to the current renewal due in 2029.
“Also, the license and accreditation of our courses have been communicated to the Federal Ministry of Education in Nigeria through diplomatic Channel, so as to evaluate and permit our graduates from Nigeria to participate in the a national Youth Service Corps (NYSC), further their studies in Nigeria institutions and employment”
Prof. Adeyemi, appealed that Nigerian students are being targeted by this policy move by the government, as thousand of students are unable to embark on the National Youth Service since January.
Similarly, he implore the Federal government to bring out the investigative panel findings and recommendations of schools found culpable in certificate racketeering, as such institution should be sanctioned while legitimate institution should not suffer the fate of those found wanton .
He added, “The Togolese government is waiting to see the actions to be taken as such pronouncement by the Minister can cause diplomatic rancor along with the present impasse being experienced with the army in some of this West African region.”
Hence, the statement by the Minister of education of Nigeria have the potency to lead to a regional conflict and can affect the aspirations of millions of Nigerians in diasporas within the West African region, especially in the Republic of Togo who have been having challenges in sending their children/wards far away for studies outside their place of current residence, which our institution planned to cater for.
Also, this can affect the regional transfer of knowledge and harnessing of opportunities for some Nigerian youths, which our recent bilingual academic and professional opportunities tend to cater to.
“Consequently, we seek the cooperation of our present and prospective parents, students, and Alumni on this matter, while we call on the Nigerian government through the Federal Ministry of Education and the Federal Executive Council (FEC) to reverse and or correct the current unfairly and unhealthy hasty decision which is based on unfounded information through a more constructive solutions that will remove the weeds from the wheat. On behalf of the Governing Council and Academic Board.”
