The place of education in national discourse and development cannot be overemphasised. The quest to ensure that this is done in a uniformed and structured manner led the establishment of institutions with quality control mechanisms. Failure to perform this function optimally seems to be responsible for the increase in the cases of certificate racketeering and culture of impunity in Nigeria.
In reaction to the revelations on 30th December, 2023, by an undercover journalist, Umar Audu, on the purchase of a B.Sc degree in six weeks at the Ecole Supérieure de Gestion et de Technologies (ESGT), Cotonou, Benin Republic, the federal government suspended the evaluation and accreditation of degree certificates from Benin Republic and Togo and instituted a probe with the expectations to submit its reports within three months.
Prior to this, there have been several reports of certificate racketeering with promises made to bring the perpetrators to book and prevent its reoccurrence. For instance, the immediate-past Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC), Professor Abubakar Rasheed, disclosed at a retreat with vice chancellors of all universities held at Abuja between October 28 and November 5, 2019, that there are 100 fake professors in various universities across Nigeria. However, none of the said professors has been arrested and prosecuted till date.
In November 2023, the forensic firm, wealthroot, contracted by the management of the Lagos State University (LASU) in 2020 to undertake a discreet undercover to unravel some elements within the university suspected to be engaged in certificate racketeering stated that though it has not concluded its investigation but the findings so far showed that the act was being perpetrated through the satellite campuses that were later scrapped.
Also, the Vice Chancellor of Coal City University, Enugu state, on November 29 confirmed the suspension of a staff of the institution by the school management over an allegation of certificate forgery. Similarly, the acting director-general of the Federal Institute of Industrial Research, Oshodi, Lagos (FIIRO), Mr. Chima Igwe, was replaced by Agnes Asagbra over certificate scandal in 2020.
In September 2019, Ms Kemi Adeosun, the then minister of finance, budget and national planning, was forced to resign her position due to the discrepancies discovered in the exemption letter claimed to have been collected from the NYSC on her return from the United Kingdom to Nigeria in 2003. This is to mention few among the cases of certificate with deficiencies in the country.
The reason for the massive expansion in the certificate mill industry might be difficult to understand taking into consideration its manifestation at all strata of the country. However, it cannot be unconnected to the endemic corruption and the failure of the institutions entrusted with the responsibility to protect education system in Nigeria.
For example, the inability of the NUC to finish out the allegedly fake professors and make them face the wrath of the law for their deed has directly and indirectly contributed to the current predicament in the country because where there are fake professors, there will surely be fake lecturers and where fake lecturers exist, then, to have plenty fake students will not be too difficult. This can be deduced from the recent revelation on the certificate that was delivered like pizza to an undercover journalist at his comfort zone in Nigeria from Benin Republic.
However, the selling and buying of certificate like pizza is not new in Nigeria neither is it limited to the neighbouring countries’ certificate racketeering markets. For instance, the term “oluwole certificate” became popular in the country because of the locations that were set up by some unscrupulous elements for the production of fake results, identity cards, certificates at Oluwole in Lagos before it was demolished by the government.
That is why some have argued that the real solution to certificate racketeering does not lie in the suspension of accreditation and evaluation of certificates from the neighbouring countries but in the ability of the institutions set up as gatekeepers to perform their functions effectively. In fact, the suspension of all certificates from these countries is like setting a building ablaze because of rats considering the number of Nigerians studying courses of their choice in a legal and acceptable manner in these countries.
The president of National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) for Benin Republic, Mr. Ugochukwu Favour, stated on 5th January, that more than 10,900 Nigerians are in different universities in both Benin and Togo doing the courses of their choice. Though, the reason for abandoning the institutions in Nigeria for Benin Republic seems to be beyond human comprehension given the advancement in Nigeria’s education system, however, an indepth analysis of the situation seems to suggest that it cannot be unconnected to the incessant strike actions and other challenges confronting education system in Nigeria.
In 2022, the public education system in Nigeria was suspended for more than 10 months because of the imbroglio between the federal government and Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), leading to the loss of a session of the academic calendar of the students studying in the public universities across the country. Beyond the ASUU strike is the issue of labour union and inconsistent policies of the government that have made it impossible to predict the possible time for the completion of a programme in Nigerian public universities.
That Nigeria’s system needs an upgrade to meet the challenges of today is not in doubt. That is why the journalist was able to register and mobilise for the National Youths Service Corps (NYSC) undetected. And this is very dangerous for Nigeria where culture of patience and values seem to be going down daily because of the inordinate quest for materialism at the detriment of national development and interest.
To reduce the expansion in the certificate mill industry, the government needs to upgrade the equipment being used by the institutions setup to regulate the conduct of educational institutions in Nigeria, mandate citadel of learnings to improve on the security features on their certificates, create more awareness on the danger fake certificates can cause to the society and increase political will to punish anyone found guilty of this offence so that the image of Nigeria can be redeemed and renewed again.
Oluwasanmi writes from
Atakunmosa,
Osun state.
