The Nigerian government has sacked some civil servants who hold degrees from private academic institutions in the Benin Republic and Togo.
The instruction applied to federal employees who graduated from the institutes from 2017 to the present.
Segun Imohiosen, Director of Information and Public Relations for the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, confirmed the development to journalists on Wednesday.
In August, the Nigerian government declared that just eight colleges in Togo and Benin Republic have been accredited to give degrees to Nigerian students.
This came after an undercover investigation revealed that a Daily Nigerian journalist earned a degree from a university in the Benin Republic in two months and used it to engage in the National Youth Service Corps program.
Following the report, the authorities of Benin Republic and Togo prohibited the accreditation and evaluation of tertiary education degrees.
The Federal Government also established an Inter-Ministerial Investigative Committee on Degree Certificate Milling to investigate certificate racketeers.
Tahir Mamman, the then-Minister of Education, disclosed that over 22,500 Nigerians had gotten fraudulent degree certificates from Benin Republic and Togo and that such diplomas would be cancelled.
Mamman stated that the information was contained in a report filed to the Federal Executive Council by the investigation committee established to investigate degree certificate racketeering by international and local colleges in Nigeria.
He emphasised that the Nigerian government would not reverse its decision to invalidate the approximately 22,500 credentials granted to Nigerians by some “fake” universities in the two francophone countries.
Mamman claimed that the decision to invalidate the credentials was not severe because Nigerians who received degrees from such educational schools harmed the country’s reputation.
He continued: “Most of those parading the fake certificates didn’t even leave the shores of Nigeria but got their certificates through racketeering in collaboration with government officials at home and abroad.
“The phoney universities took advantage of Nigerians’ gullibility in choosing such fake schools. The Nigerian government, through the offices of the Head of Civil Service and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, would seek out people in government employment who had such fraudulent certificates. I also encourage the private sector to follow suit.
Although the exact number of impacted civil servants could not be determined, it was learnt that the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (Cabinet Affairs) had sent a note to all Ministries, Departments, and Agencies directing them to carry out the order.
A source, who requested anonymity because she was not permitted to comment on the subject, said that the impacted employees were fired following the advice of the interministerial committee.
The official stated, “There was a letter from the SGF cabinet affairs directing all ministries, departments, and government agencies to identify and terminate the appointments of workers employed with certificates obtained from private universities in the Republic of Benin and Togo from 2017 to date.
“The decision is part of the recommendations of the committee set up to investigate the certificates of people who graduated from the universities.”
According to the PUNCH, some agencies, including the National Youth Services Corps, have begun to enforce the directive.
Caroline Embu, the NYSC Director of Information, confirmed to journalists that five employees had been terminated following the SGF’s decision.
She stated that “the directive contained in the letter from the SGF’s office affected five members of staff.”
