The media world has been awash with information about an alleged checklist of faux professors presently affiliated with some federal, state and personal universities throughout the nation.
The event adopted the current investigative report by a reporter of the Every day Nigerian Newspaper, which uncovered the actions of diploma mills within the Republic of Benin and Togo.
The reporter, Umar Audu, revealed how he obtained a level in six weeks after which participated within the one-year obligatory youth service beneath the Nationwide Youth Service Corps programme.
Audu, who contacted the syndicate specialised within the sale of diplomas in December 2022, acquired a Bachelor of Science in Mass Communication certificates from the Ecole Superieure de Gestion et de Applied sciences, Cotonou, Benin Republic in February 2023.
The excitement that adopted the investigative report led to the suspension of accreditation and analysis of levels from neighboring West African international locations.
Nevertheless, it didn't cease there. An previous information report from 2019 that quoted a former Govt Secretary of the Nationwide Universities Fee, Prof. Abubakar Rasheed, as saying that the regulatory physique had uncovered about 100 faux professors in some Nigerian universities has resurfaced within the media.
Whereas Rasheed defined the rationale behind labeling the “professors” as faux, there was no checklist hooked up that offered a breakdown of the establishments with faux professors.
Our correspondent's findings revealed that the pattern began on that it’s not true. If that’s the case, we’re in for a impolite shock.”
The person would later checklist about 23 Nigerian universities that allegedly had faux professors particularly;
1. College of Ibadan -11
2. College Settlement -4
3. Obafemi Awolowo College – 8
4. College of Lagos -5
5. College of Nigeria, Nsukka -9
6. Ahmadu Bello College -8
7. Federal College of Expertise, Akure – 9
8. College of Ilorin -11
9. College of Port Harcourt – 8
10. Federal College of Expertise, Minna -9
11. College of Jos -8
12. Bayero College Kano -20
13. Ekiti State College -15
14. Nnamdi Azikiwe College -10
15. Usman Danfodio College -7
16. Abubakar Tafawa Balewa College – 7
17. Federal College of Petroleum Assets -12
18. Rivers State College -11
19. Michael Okpara College -11
20. Federal College of Expertise, Owerri -15
21. Babcock College -9
22. American College -14
23. Redeemers College -9
The submit has generated over 100,000 impressions as of January 9, 2024. When questioned in regards to the supply of his info, the creator referred to a 2019 information report from a tv station.
A examine of the hyperlink offered revealed that though the NUC claimed it had found 100 faux professors, it didn’t embody an inventory.
The report sparked an uproar from a number of media organizations (not together with The PUNCH) who cited the checklist as allegedly coming from the NUC.
Universities are responding
In response to studies within the mainstream media, universities have been pressured to current counterarguments.
The College of Lagos, for instance, in an announcement described the report as baseless and urged the general public to disregard it.
The administration of the College of Ilorin on Sunday additionally dismissed claims that eleven faux professors had been found within the establishment.
This was contained in an announcement signed by the spokesperson of the college, Kunle Akogun, which learn; “We don't have faux professors and so they don't exist in our college.”
Akogun added: “The Nationwide Universities Fee had categorically dismissed the knowledge as a misleading fabrication of agitators. The committee has distanced itself from the checklist that first surfaced in December 2019.
“We take into account it acceptable to categorically distance our establishment from the story of the eleven faux professors accused in opposition to our college.”
In response to him, not one of the individuals listed are on the roll of names of the college and none of them have ever had any contact with the College of Ilorin at any time or in any type.
Different universities such because the College of Ibadan, Babcock College, Bayero College, Kano, Redeemers College, Ahmadu Bello College, Federal College of Expertise and Akure have additionally been pressured to subject rebuttals.
NUC responds
In an announcement issued on Tuesday, the NUC famous that it was essential to subject the disclaimer in view of the intense harm attributable to the studies of faux professors within the Nigerian college system.
Within the assertion signed by its Performing Govt Secretary Chris Maiyaki, the fee stated it discovered it unfair to stakeholders that some officers on social and mainstream media would choose a second. Nigerians have been awaiting the result of an investigation into the actions of diploma mills in neighboring international locations. international locations to unfold “baseless and baseless” claims about teachers within the Nigerian college system.
The assertion learn: “For the avoidance of doubt, the committee can verify that it initiated a commendable challenge in 2019, with a view to compiling and publishing an inventory of professors within the Nigerian Universities System by way of the usage of an internet portal to collate the mandatory information. Through the train, the NUC famous anomalies, such because the itemizing of affiliate professors as professors.
“It’s important to additionally make it clear that the fee, as a accountable federal authorities company, is not going to interact in half-baked workouts that might tarnish the picture of Nigeria and the NUS. Due to this fact, the committee deemed it essential to share the info collected with the Nigerian universities for the aim of authentication by the related authorities as to who’s eligible to grow to be a professor.
“Based mostly on the verified information, the committee then printed, in a milestone, for the primary time the checklist of professors who participated within the train in 2019. It was understood that this may be adopted up by an ongoing strategy of updating the checklist of professors. You will need to point out at this level that each one points referring to the verification of professors in Nigerian universities in 2019 have been concluded in 2019.
“Since then, the committee has launched a extra dependable system for producing the checklist of professors within the NUS. The committee can also be conscious that a few of the teachers not included within the 2019 train could now have matured and developed into full professors; because of this she is consistently updating the checklist of professors in NUS.
“The Nationwide Universities Fee questions the rationale behind recycling this outdated information from 2019 about an exercise it initiated, applied and stopped in the identical 12 months. The aim and goal of reviving this not recent information in 2024 (greater than 4 years later) is clearly supposed to generate pointless controversy at an inappropriate time, whereas peppering it with a bogus checklist of faux professors.
“The Nationwide Universities Fee owes it a solemn responsibility to guard and safeguard the integrity of the various hardworking and devoted teachers in NUS who’ve earned nationwide and worldwide respect and recognition. Due to this fact, the Fee, by way of its enabling legal guidelines, has been saddled with the essential and strategic duty of upholding the sanctity of high quality in all elements of our college schooling.
“The committee needs to make use of this medium to advise authorities officers in any respect ranges, members of the NUS, the worldwide group and the general public to disregard these faux information and previous information, which have lengthy been put aside in 2019.
“All info on the position of the NUC within the regulation of the NUS will be discovered on our official web site www.nuc.edu.ng. Additional questions will also be requested through the official e mail handle of the committee: [email protected].”
