FG Closes Down 18 Foreign Varsity Campuses Over Alleged Certificate Forgery

The Federal Government has banned 18 foreign universities operating in Nigeria, describing them as “degree mills,’’ warning Nigerians to avoid enrolling in such institutions.

The directive affected five universities from the United States, six from the United Kingdom, and three Ghanaian tertiary institutions.

Also, the Federal Ministry of Education on Tuesday announced the temporary suspension of evaluation and accreditation of degree certificates from the Republic of Benin and Togo.

Announcing the ban in a statement published on its website, the National Universities Commission explained that the Federal Government had not licensed the affected universities and they had been closed down.

It stated, “The National Universities Commission wishes to announce to the general public, especially parents and prospective undergraduates that the under-listed “degree mills” have not been licensed by the Federal Government and have therefore been closed down for violating the Education (National Minimum Standards, etc.) Act of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.

The affected schools are the University of Applied Sciences & Management, Port Novo, Republic of Benin, or any of its other campuses in Nigeria; Volta University College, Ho, Volta Region, Ghana, or any of its other campuses in Nigeria; the International University, Missouri, USA, Kano, and Lagos Study Centres, or any of its campuses in Nigeria and the Collumbus University, United Kingdom operating anywhere in Nigeria.

The list also included Tiu International University, UK; Pebbles University, UK, operating anywhere in Nigeria; London External Studies UK operating anywhere in Nigeria; Pilgrims University operating anywhere in Nigeria; West African Christian University operating anywhere in Nigeria; EC-Council University, USA, Ikeja, Lagos Study Centre and Concept College/Universities (London) Ilorin or any of its campuses in Nigeria.

Others are Houdegbe North American University campuses in Nigeria; Irish University Business School London, operating anywhere in Nigeria; University of Education, Winneba Ghana, operating anywhere in Nigeria; Cape Coast University, Ghana, operating anywhere in Nigeria; African University Cooperative Development, Cotonou, Benin Republic, operating anywhere in Nigeria; Pacific Western University, Denver, Colorado, Owerri Study Centre and Evangel University of America & Chudick Management Academic, Lagos.

In a move to sanitise the education sector, the Ministry of Education said it was temporarily suspending the evaluation and accreditation of degree certificates from the Republic of Benin and Togo.

The decision was sequel to an undercover investigative report titled, ‘How Daily Nigerian reporter bagged Cotonou varsity degree in 6 weeks,’ published by the Daily Nigerian newspaper.

The report exposed how some officials of the Beninese University produced fake university degrees for a fee.

The investigative reporter, Umar Audu, bagged a degree from the institution within six weeks and also participated in the mandatory one-year scheme organized by the National Youth Service Corps.

Audu, who reached out to the syndicate that specialises in selling degree certificates in December 2022, graduated in February 2023 and was issued a Bachelor of Science in Mass Communication certificate from the Ecole Superieure de Gestion et de Technologies, Cotonou, Benin Republic.

In reaction, the Federal Ministry of Education in a statement on Tuesday, decried the certificate racketeering exposed by the report and berated Nigerians who engaged in desperate methods to get a degree.