The federal government of Nigeria has ordered that all degree certificates from Cotonou University issued between 2017 and the present will be rendered invalid. Additionally, all personnel currently employed by the Federal Government are to be terminated immediately.
The federal government has authorized the termination of employees in both the public and private sectors who possess counterfeit degree certificates acquired from the Republics of Benin and Togo.
During a press conference held in Abuja on Friday to mark his first anniversary in office, Minister of Education Tahir Mamman revealed that these initiatives were sanctioned in a recent meeting of the federal executive council, which was presided over by President Bola Tinubu.
“…We can’t have in our midst people who procure fake certificates and to compete with our students who graduated from our universities and polytechnics through their sweat, some spent four, five, six, or more years going out to compete with people who procure certificates right here without going anywhere, for a lot of them.
“So what the FEC now approves is that, through the data, that NYSC has, about 21,684 students that are parading fake certificates from Benin Republic, obtained between 2019 to 2023.
“Togo is about 1,105. How did that happen? They simply attend schools, which are not recognised in those countries.
Instead, some of our parents, take their wards to these institutions, and of course there is no way we would recognise qualifications which are not recognised in those countries.
“In the case of Togo, we have three universities that are officially approved and licensed to offer degrees, and in Benin, there are about five of them.
“So anyone who didn’t attend these universities is parading a fake certificate.”
The Head of Service, has been mandated to fish out from the public service anybody who is parading certificate from these institutions.
