The UK Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) investigation into a case of forgery and academic fraud has resurfaced online, drawing parallels with the Chicago forgery case involving Bola Ahmed Tinubu. The report highlights the gravity of such academic practices. The UK Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), which confirmed widespread fraud at a computer-based test (CBT) center in Ibadan, Nigeria, says the registrations of more than 500 nurses and midwives in the UK are under investigation as potentially “fraudulent or incorrect”.
The NMC uses a test of competence (ToC) to assess the skills and knowledge of people applying to join its register from overseas. However, it was discovered that hundreds of Nigerian applicants had fraudulently obtained results from Yunnik Technologies. More than 1,950 candidates who carry results obtained from the Ibadan-based test center are expected to retake the test.
In addition, 48 Nigerian-trained nurses and midwives in the UK are currently being investigated for exam fraud. These nurses are suspected of paying to have someone else take the computer-based exams, which are required to work in the UK and assess medical knowledge. Andrea Sutcliffe, CEO of the NMC, expressed sympathy for those innocent applicants who have been caught up in this fraud scandal.
She emphasized that the NMC’s main priority is to protect the public, and they are taking this matter seriously. “We understand this continues to be a distressing time for people facing uncertainty about their application or place on our register,” she said. “We’re committed to managing these concerns in the safest and fairest way we can. Our paramount concern remains to protect the public by maintaining the integrity of the register for nursing and midwifery professionals practicing in the UK.” The report further said that an additional 669 nurses and midwives who are in the process of applying to work in the UK but have not started employment “are also believed to have obtained their results fraudulently”.
In a related development, Campbellsville University, located in the United States, has suspended all applications from Nigerians due to the high rate of fraudulent applications. In an email response to a Nigerian applicant, the university, via their verified official mail, responded, “Hello, due to high rates of fraudulent applications, Campbellsville University has suspended processing of new applications for students from Nepal, Nigeria, and Bangladesh. Applications from these countries are immediately rejected upon submission. thank you”.
In the wake of Tinubu’s forgery of his Chicago State University certificate, the integrity of educational and professional evaluation processes in Nigeria has been called into question.
The revelations of widespread forgery and fraudulent activities hovering around Bola Tinubu have further cast doubts over the ability of Nigerian government institutions such as the Department of State Security (DSS), the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), and others to carry out their respective statutory functions.