THE National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) in Benin Republic has said over 15,000 Nigerian students were affected in the country by the recent ban on certificate evaluations by the Nigerian government.
The NANS president in Benin Republic, Ugochukwu Favour, stated this on Thursday, January 4, on Channels TV’s breakfast show “Sunrise Daily”.
The suspension followed a report by an online newspaper, Daily Nigerian, which exposed how a Cotonou-based university issued a degree certificate to an undercover journalist within six weeks.
The report revealed how beneficiaries of these substandard certificates compete for jobs and other opportunities with hard-working graduates who undergo academic rigours for at least four years to obtain their degrees.
It also reported that the requirements for the fake degree are O-level certificates – fake or genuine – and money, which vary depending on the course, urgency and class of degree.
Following the revelation, the Federal Government, on Tuesday, January 2, suspended the accreditation and evaluation of degree certificates from the Benin Republic and Togo.
The Ministry of Education spokesperson, Augustina Obilor-Duru, said the government expressed concern over Nigerians resorting to unethical tactics to obtain degrees to secure job opportunities they aren’t qualified for.
However, Favour, the NANS president in Benin Republic, urged the government to take into consideration students who had rightfully secured their admissions.
