Workers With Fake Togo and Benin Degrees Have Been Dismissed – FG.
The federal government has sanctioned the dismissal of employees in both public and private sectors who hold fake degree certificates from Benin and Togo Republic. This announcement was made by the Minister of Education, Tahir Mamman, during a press conference in Abuja, commemorating his first year in office.
Mamman revealed that this decision was approved during a recent Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting chaired by President Bola Tinubu. The move is a response to recommendations from an inter-ministerial committee tasked with investigating an undercover report published by DAILY NIGERIAN in December.
The report detailed how an undercover journalist managed to acquire degree certificates from Ecole Superieure de Gestion et de Technologies (ESGT) in Cotonou, Benin Republic, in under two months. The minister highlighted that many institutions attended by Nigerian students in these neighboring countries lack the necessary licenses to confer legitimate degree programs.
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“One of the things we did in the course of the year was — remember when information broke out about some of our students going to neighboring countries — some not even going at all — to obtain certificates,” Mamman stated. He explained that the ministry established a committee to investigate the issue, which subsequently produced a comprehensive review sent to the federal executive council about a month ago.
The council approved several recommendations from the ministry, which are set to be implemented in collaboration with other ministries and agencies, including NYSC and Immigration. These measures are part of a broader strategy to address the issue of fake certificates.
Mamman emphasized the injustice of allowing individuals with fraudulent certificates to compete with students who have legitimately earned their degrees. He stated, “We can’t have in our midst people who procure fake certificates and compete with our students who graduated from our universities and polytechnics through their sweat.”
Additionally, the minister shared that data from NYSC indicates around 21,000 individuals may be affected by these new measures.
