From Fred Ezeh, Abuja
There are indications that some persons within and outside the civil service are working with fake certificates, Federal Ministry of Education has said.
Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, however, vowed to flush out such persons in public and private organisations working with such fake certificates.
The minister gave the hint in Abuja, on Friday, when he received the report of an inter-ministerial investigative committee on degree mills presented by the Chairman of the Committee, Prof. Jubrila Amin.
Prof. Mamman expressed sadness over what was uncovered during the investigations, stressing that the Ministry would work with relevant Agencies to sanitise the education sector, and rid it of any fake tendencies.
He said: “We can’t afford to have the integrity of our education soiled by some few persons. There are strong indications that some people are parading fake certificates in public and private organisations who need to be flushed out. The report of the inter-ministerial investigative committee is a product of a thorough investigation.
“It is sad that someone who should come out from a Nigerian institution with a 2:1 or 2:2 is now parading an international certificate of first class. The ministry is determined to take steps to sanitise the system,” he said.
He, however, pledged to take decisive role to ensure standards are enshrined in the system, saying that the ministry can’t afford to let down the country when it comes to standards.
Chairman of the Inter-ministerial committee, Prof. Jubrila Amin, in his remarks, painted the gory pictures of their findings, lamenting the horrible standards of education in schools.
He said: “In the course of our investigation, we realised that the programme of accreditation and evaluation of results is inadequate.”
“We observed that people go and get fake degrees from institutions abroad. We visited those countries to found out things for us. We know what a proper degree looks like. We also know what the fake one looks like. We have suggested that the ministry scrutinise anyone presenting a certificate from those institutions.”