In response to the suspension of evaluation and accreditation of degree certificates from the Republic of Benin and Togo, the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has charged the FG to carry out similar measures against tertiary institutions that run unaccredited courses.
News About Nigeria reports that following the investigation of a Nigerian newspaper whose reporter was able to get a degree certificate within six weeks in Cotonou, a major city in the Benin Republic and also enroll for the one-year mandatory National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme, the Federal government blacklisted about 18 of those learning institutions.
In a statement signed by factional National Senate President Elvis Ekundina, on Wednesday, the student body lauded the Federal Government’s prompt response to the investigation by suspending the accreditation of degree certificates obtained from institutions in the Benin Republic and Togo.
NANS also condemned the deceptive methods being used by Nigerians to acquire degree certificates from foreign institutions, especially in the Benin Republic and Togo.
The student body also charged the government to focus on tertiary institutions in Nigeria that are involved in such fraudulent activities by running courses they are not accredited to run.
NANS therefore tasked the Federal government to investigate the activities of the Federal Ministry of Education, the National Universities Commission (NUC), the NYSC, and other agencies that are linked to the activities of obtaining degree certificates from foreign universities.
In the statement, the association added that the FG should also investigate privately owned institutions in Nigeria, as many of them are also involved in issuing certificates they are not accredited to run.
They lamented that because of the increase in fake and manipulated certificates, Nigeria’s educational system keeps going down, and young people continue to look for easy ways which are why they patronise the fake.
