FG Releases List of Recognised Varsities in Togo, Benin

The Federal Government has said that only eight universities in Togo and Benin Republic have been accredited to award degrees to Nigerians.

The Minister of Education, Tahir Mamman, made this known during a programme on Sunday on Channels TV and monitored by our correspondent.

Rocketparrot News reported that Mamman had last week disclosed that over 22,500 Nigerians obtained fake degree certificates from the two countries, and such certificates approval would not be acceptable in the country.

The minister said the revelation was part of a report submitted to the Federal Executive Council by a committee with a mandate to probe degree certificate racketeering by foreign and local universities in Nigeria.

He said the development followed the undercover investigation report in which a Nigerian journalist acquired a degree from a university in Benin Republic under two months and used it to get deployed for the National Youth Service Corps.

Speaking during the programme, the minister said the federal government only recognised three institutions in Togo and five in Benin Republic while identifying others as illegal institutions.

Mamman listed the public universities below as the federal government-approved institutions to offer degree programmes in Togo for students from Nigeria.

1. Universite De Lome; 2. Universite De Kara and 3. Catholic University of West Africa.

The minister also listed five accredited universities authorised to provide degree programmes in Benin Republic for students from Nigeria.

1. Universite D’abomey-Calavi; 2. Universite De Parakou; 3. Universite Nationale Des Sciences, Technologis Ingenierie Et Mathematiques; 4. Universite Nationale D’ Agriculture and 5. Universite Africaine De Devlopment Cooperatif.

The minister also insisted that there was no going back on the decision of the federal government to cancel about 22,700 certificates awarded to Nigerians by some “fake” universities in neighbouring Togo and Benin Republic.

He said, “Most of those parading the fake certificates didn’t even leave the shores of Nigeria but got their certificates through racketeering in collaboration with government officials at home and abroad.

“The 'fake universities' capitalised on the 'gullibility' of Nigerians patronising such fake schools."

He called on both private and public sector to fish out those with such certification.