The minister of education, Prof Tahir Mamman said the federal government would extend non-recognition of degree certificates issued by universities in some African countries like Uganda, Kenya and Niger Republic.
Speaking on a Channels Television interview, the minister said the move was meant to forestall the proliferation of fake university degrees.
The minister made the announcement in the wake of the government’s suspension of accreditation and evaluation of degree certificates from universities in Benin Republic and Togo.
“We are not going to stop at just Benin and Togo. We are going to extend the dragnet to countries like Uganda, Kenya, even Niger here where such institutions have been set up.
“We will not stop at the suspension of certificates from Togo and Benin Republic alone. We are going to extend the suspension to other countries where such institutions operate,” Mamman said.
The minister said he had no sympathy for the students who patronise such institutions, labelling them criminals who should be arrested.
The minister added that security agents would go after those with fake certificates from foreign countries who are already using them to secure opportunities in Nigeria.
“If, along the line, we can trace that there are people already in the system, for instance, if a particular institution or operator has been operating, say in the last 10 years, we will check if we can get records of Nigerians who attended that institution.
“Once we do that, they are criminals and you know there is no timeframe to criminality. We will trace them. As long as we can lay our hands on their institutions and they are right here with us, certainly, the security agencies will go after them because they are criminals,” he added.
