President Bola Tinubu has approved the dismissal of federal civil servants holding degrees from private universities in Benin Republic and Togo, a move targeting those who graduated from 2017 onwards.
The Director of Information and Public Relations in the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF), Segun Imohiosen, confirmed the development when contacted by LEADERSHIP.
The decision followed an August announcement by the Federal Government, which identified only eight universities in the two countries as accredited to award degrees to Nigerians.
The crackdown gained momentum after an undercover investigation by an online newspaper, Daily Nigerian, which exposed how a journalist obtained a degree from a University in Benin Republic within two months and used it to join the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Scheme in Nigeria. In response, the government banned the accreditation and evaluation of degrees from private tertiary institutions in Togo and Benin Republic.
An Inter-Ministerial Investigative Committee on Degree Certificate Milling was subsequently established to probe the activities of certificate racketeers.
Immediate-past Education Minister, Prof. Tahir Mamman, disclosed that over 22,500 Nigerians had obtained fake degree certificates from the two countries, adding that such certificates would be invalidated.
“The fake universities capitalised on the gullibility of Nigerians patronising such fake schools,” Mamman 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.”
He added: “The Federal Government, through the offices of the Head of Civil Service and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, would fish out those in government’s employment with such fake certificates. I also urge the private sector to follow suit.”
Although the number of affected civil servants remains unclear, LEADERSHIP, however, gathered that the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation has directed all Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) to implement the order.