The Federal Government has dismissed several civil servants who obtained degrees from private universities in Benin Republic and Togo between 2017 and now.
This directive, confirmed by Segun Imohiosen, Director of Information and Public Relations in the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, comes amid efforts to address the issue of fake degree certificates from these countries.
In August, the government disclosed that only eight universities in Benin Republic and Togo were accredited to award degrees to Nigerians.
This decision followed an investigative report by Daily Nigerian, where a journalist acquired a degree from a university in Benin Republic in just two months and used it to participate in the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme. Subsequently, the government suspended the accreditation and evaluation of degrees from these institutions.
To tackle the issue of certificate fraud, the Federal Government established an Inter-Ministerial Investigative Committee on Degree Certificate Milling. Former Minister of Education, Tahir Mamman, revealed that over 22,500 Nigerians had obtained fake degrees from Benin Republic and Togo.
These certificates were declared invalid, and Mamman emphasized that the decision was necessary to preserve the country’s reputation. He criticized the collaboration between racketeers and some officials that enabled the proliferation of these fake qualifications.
The government has mandated ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs) to identify and terminate employees with such invalid certificates. A memo from the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation directed all MDAs to implement this order. The decision is part of the recommendations of the investigative committee, which highlighted the need to sanitize the civil service and uphold the integrity of Nigeria’s education system.
The implementation of the directive has already begun in some agencies. The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) confirmed that five staff members had been dismissed for possessing certificates from these discredited institutions. NYSC’s Director of Information, Caroline Embu, confirmed the development, stating, “Five members of staff were affected by the directive contained in the letter from the office of the SGF. No more.”
The Federal Government’s decisive action underscores its commitment to curbing certificate racketeering and safeguarding the credibility of academic qualifications in the country. By addressing these fraudulent practices, the government aims to restore public confidence in Nigeria’s educational and professional systems.