The federal authorities, via the Federal Ministry of Schooling, has established a committee to analyze the actions of personal universities established over the previous fifteen years.
Schooling Minister Prof. Tahir Mamman stated on Tuesday that this can present whether or not the non-public establishments beneath investigation have prescribed services, sufficient administration construction and sufficient funding of packages, amongst others.
He additionally famous that the inter-ministerial committee set as much as examine the actions of unlawful universities can even “examine the veracity of the allegations of diploma racketeering in each international and native non-public universities in Nigeria.”
The minister stated this throughout the inauguration of the inter-ministerial committee on diploma mills within the nation.
Whereas itemizing the features of the committee, the minister stated: “Overview the function of any MDA or its officers (together with figuring out such officers) in facilitating the popularity and acquisition of the faux certificates in query;
“Overview present insurance policies and procedures associated to accreditation and certification to determine weaknesses contributing to the issue; examines the foundations, procedures and processes for the popularity and accreditation of international universities and packages by the Federal Ministry of Schooling.
“To find out whether or not Unapproved Overseas Establishments (Diploma Mills) exist or not in Nigeria, in any type, with their id and site, if any;
“Make applicable suggestions for the overview of all guidelines, procedures, processes to forestall recurrence and sanctions for recognized erring officers;
“Make one other suggestion that may strengthen the system of recognition, accreditation and high quality assurance of levels in Nigeria.
“Look at the present guidelines, procedures and processes for granting provisional licenses to new universities by the Nationwide Universities Fee.
“Look at the procedures and processes for periodic accreditation of programs within the universities by the NUC and study their effectiveness within the high quality assurance of the programs;
“With out prejudice to the periodic accreditation process of the NUC, study whether or not or not non-public universities established throughout the final fifteen years have the prescribed services, applicable administration construction, sufficient funding of programmes, required employees (nature of employees is full-time, contract, deputy, go to, different sorts).”
The PUNCH experiences that the actions of diploma factories as soon as once more took middle stage in discussions in Nigeria following an investigative report by reporter Umar Audu of the Every day Nigerian Newspaper on the actions of diploma factories within the Republic of Benin and Togo. The reporter revealed how he obtained a level inside six weeks and even entered obligatory youth service beneath the Nationwide Youth Service Corps program.
Audu, who contacted the syndicate specialised within the sale of diplomas in December 2022, graduated in February 2023 and was awarded a Bachelor of Science in Mass Communication certificates from the Ecole Superieure de Gestion et de Applied sciences, Cotonou, Benin Republic .
The report which uncovered the illegalities of some tertiary establishments within the West African states led to the Nigerian authorities imposing a ban on the accreditation and analysis of levels from the Republic of Benin and Togo. The Minister of Schooling, Prof. Tahir Mamman, would later state that the Federal Authorities would additional prolong its searchlight to establishments in different African nations akin to Ghana.
To this point, no fewer than 10,900 Nigerian college students learning in Benin and Togolese universities are anticipated to be affected by the Nigerian authorities's ban, in keeping with statistics from the Nationwide Affiliation of Nigerian College students within the Republic of Benin and Togo.
Additionally, the Nationwide Universities Fee, the regulatory physique of universities in Nigeria, has revealed that no fewer than 18 of the 58 universities whose operations have been suspended in Nigeria are foreign-owned.
