The National Universities Commission (NUC) has refuted recent media reports claiming that it uncovered 100 fake professors in several universities across the country, News About Nigeria reports.
Contrary to the information circulating in the media, the NUC clarified that it did not release a list of fake professors in 2024, noting that the reports are misleading.
In a statement issued on Monday, the NUC explained that it initiated a verification process in 2019 to compile and publish a list of full professors in the Nigerian Universities System (NUS).
During this process, anomalies were discovered, such as associate professors being listed as full professors.
The commission, as a responsible Federal Government Agency, claimed that it does not engage in half-baked exercises that could tarnish the image of Nigeria and the NUS.
The NUC further said that it shared the collated data with Nigerian universities for authentication by competent authorities to determine who qualifies as a full professor.
The statement read in part; “It is essential to also state clearly that the Commission, as a responsible Federal Government Agency, does not engage in half-baked exercises capable of tarnishing the image of Nigeria and the NUS.
“That was why the Commission deemed it necessary to share the collated data with the Nigerian Universities for authentication by the competent authorities as to who qualifies to be a full professor.”
The media landscape has been flooded with reports of alleged fake professors, causing concerns and questions about the qualifications of academics in Nigerian tertiary institutions.
Several universities, including the University of Ibadan, the University of Ilorin, Babcock University, and Covenant University, among others, have issued rebuttals and called for calm amid the ongoing controversy.
