The Federal Government has dismissed several civil servants who obtained degrees from private universities in Benin Republic and Togo between 2017 and now.
Segun Imohiosen, Director of Information and Public Relations in the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), confirmed the development on Wednesday.
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The move follows an August announcement by the Federal Government, declaring only eight universities in Togo and Benin Republic as accredited to award degrees to Nigerians. This decision was influenced by an undercover investigation by Daily Nigerian, which revealed how a journalist acquired a degree from a university in Benin Republic within two months and used it to enroll in the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC).
As part of the crackdown, the government also banned the accreditation and evaluation of degrees from institutions in these countries and formed an Inter-Ministerial Investigative Committee on Degree Certificate Milling.
The then Minister of Education, Tahir Mamman, disclosed that over 22,500 Nigerians had obtained fake degree certificates from the two francophone countries, all of which would be invalidated.
Mamman explained that the certificates were issued by fake universities, often without the holders even leaving Nigeria. “The fake universities capitalized on the gullibility of Nigerians and tarnished the country’s image,” he said, urging both public and private sectors to identify and dismiss employees with such credentials.
Following these recommendations, the SGF directed all ministries, departments, and agencies to terminate the appointments of staff with certificates from these institutions. A source within the government, speaking anonymously, confirmed the directive was implemented based on the inter-ministerial committee’s findings.
The NYSC, among the affected agencies, confirmed the dismissal of five staff members. Caroline Embu, the NYSC Director of Information, said, “Five members of staff were affected by the directive contained in the letter from the office of the SGF. No more.”
