Affected graduates from the blacklisted universities in Togo and Benin Republic on Friday begged the Federal Government to reverse its ban, saying it has exposed them to ridicule among their peers and potential employers.
They raised their concerns at a press conference organised by the West African Francophone Universities Alumni in conjunction with the National Association of Nigerian Students in Diaspora.
At least, 22, 500 Nigerians are reported to be parading certificates obtained from the two countries between 2019 and 2023
The activities of degree mill set tongues wagging once again a few months ago when an undercover reporter, Umar Audu, exposed a certificate racketeering syndicate in neighbouring African countries that specialises in selling university degrees to willing buyers in Nigeria.
The journalist revealed how he obtained a degree within six weeks and even proceeded to embark on mandatory youth service under the National Youth Service Corps scheme.
On receiving the report of a committee set up to investigate the matter, the Minister of Education, Tahir Mamman placed a ban on the accreditation and evaluation of degrees from the affected institutions and vowed to flush out holders of the fake degrees from the system.
Addressing journalists in Abuja on Friday, an alumnus and president of the institute superior d formation professionale, Peter Adamade, lamented that the ban has left many of them traumatised and exposed to public ridicule.
He said, “This matter has seriously traumatised us. We stand in solidarity with parents and affected graduates as well as undergraduates who are still within the four walls of the affected universities.
“We have suffered and still suffering stigmatisation including the recent rejection of our SIWES students who tendered their application for industrial training scheme.”
Adamade added that despite presenting enough verifiable documents including textbooks and tuition notes, they were disappointed when they heard the ‘twisted’ outcome of their engagement from the media.
Another graduate of Cotonou-based Institut Supérieur de Communication et de Gestion, Emmanuel Abdulrazaq also told our reporter that they suspected the president must have been misinformed and provoked into slamming the ban on the affected schools.
He said, “It is surprising that someone has suddenly decided to undermine this process, which has rendered over 30,000 graduates from these universities feeling worthless and left them with uncertain futures, causing them significant psychological distress.
“We are astonished that the minister would publicly discredit universities that are duly accredited by the governments and education ministries of those nations. It is inconceivable that the authorities in these West African countries would tolerate fraudulent institutions, especially those that have been operating for many years.
“The minister’s declaration appears to be an attempt to tarnish the reputation of these institutions for personal gain, likely to curry favour with President Bola Tinubu, especially as rumours suggest the President may be planning to reshuffle his cabinet hence the minister’s position could be at risk due to his perceived incompetence.”
Adzo Innocent, a 2019 graduate and former Public Relations Officer of Ecotes University, partly blamed the Joint Admission Matriculation Board for their plight.
He said, “Rather than prepare young minds who want to unleash their potential, JAMB has become a revenue-generating agency in Nigeria. This is one of those instigating factors propelling the exodus of young Nigerians into Benin Republic and other smaller countries in Sub-Saharan Africa.
“JAMB has not even been fair in giving chances to admission seekers to study the course of their dream. Again, we should also know that not many parents are comfortable with the long strike that has become a feature of Nigerian universities. How many times have we seen graduates spending seven years for a course that should ordinarily take four years?
“But Benin Republic, Togo and, by extension, other African countries are, however, providing a soft landing for scholars, not necessarily by diluting the quality of education in these countries.”
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