Chief Bola Ahmed Tinubu, through the Federal Ministry of Education, is expected to establish an inter-ministerial committee today, Tuesday, aimed at addressing the proliferation of degree mills.
This was disclosed by the Director of Press and Public Relations for the ministry, Ben Goong, in a notice disseminated to journalists in Abuja.
In the notice, Goong stated, “This afternoon, Education Minister Prof. Tahir Mamman will inaugurate an inter-ministerial committee focused on tackling degree mills.”
The issue of degree mills gained renewed attention in Nigeria following an investigative report by Umar Audu, a reporter with the Daily Nigerian newspaper.
The report shed light on the operations of degree mills in Benin Republic and Togo, where Audu disclosed obtaining a degree within six weeks and subsequently engaging in the mandatory youth service under the National Youth Service Corps scheme.
The reporter, who exposed the syndicate specializing in selling degree certificates in December 2022, graduated in February 2023 with a Bachelor of Science in Mass Communication certificate from Ecole Superieure de Gestion et de Technologies, Cotonou, Benin Republic.
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In response to the revelations, the Nigerian government imposed a ban on the accreditation and evaluation of degrees from the Benin Republic and Togo.
Education Minister Tahir Mamman affirmed that the government would extend its scrutiny to institutions in other African countries, including Ghana.
As a consequence of the ban, at least 10,900 Nigerian students enrolled in universities in the Benin Republic and Togo are expected to be affected, according to statistics provided by the National Association of Nigerian Students in those countries.
Additionally, the National Universities Commission, the regulatory body for universities in Nigeria, revealed that 18 out of the 58 universities whose operations were suspended in Nigeria are foreign-owned.