By Chinasaokwu Helen okoro
Prof. Tahir Mamman made this declare,
after a man bagged a 2:1 Mass Comm Degree in Six Weeks.
Minister of Education, Prof Tahir Mamman explicitly stated that in Togo, there are only three recognized universities, and only five in Benin Republic.
But, between 2019-2023, they got over 22,000+ graduates from the countries who came for NYSC. (Excluding those who did not apply for NYSC)
Which according to him, is impossible from those eight institutions. Unless, they are from structures parading themselves as Accredited Universities.
Basically, he said if you are studying in either of the two countries and your school is teaching you in English, you are wasting your time.
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, have thereby issued a circular to both Federal and Private employers to fish out and fire anyone with certificates from those dubious francophone institutions dating from 2018.
Note that, on February 12th 2024, Benin government wrote to Nigeria, telling them that they have only 38 Universities, while the “others” are affiliations. But Prof Tahir contradicts that by saying they now recognize just five.
Recall, that in December 2023, an undercover journalist Umar Audu used six weeks to bag a 4yrs degree and successfully went for NYSC service.
He didn’t step foot out of his Nigerian home, yet.. he ordered for the certificate and it was delivered along with complete transcript in six week, he used it to register for NYSC, got a call up, went to camp and took pictures before publishing the exposé.
According to the certificate issued, Audu commenced his programme in 2018 and graduated on September 5, 2022. Meanwhile he never crossed the Nigerian borders.
Apparently, its a booming business in Benin.
Infact, the school ESGT University was duly accredited by both Benin and Nigerian government. The deputy director of Evaluation and Accreditation, Koli Salihu-Mongodiba (Fed. Min. Of Education) and NYSC both confirmed that the certificate hawking institution was indeed accredited having satisfying all requirements.
Audu was nationally recognized for his outstanding work and the government vowed to put an end to it. Eight months later, they have.
