The Federal Government has instructed all higher institutions across the country to submit their matriculation lists to the Federal Ministry of Education within three months following their matriculation ceremonies. The submission must be made through the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board’s designated channel.
This directive is part of a series of measures recommended by a committee established to combat the proliferation of fake degree mills and certificate fraud in Nigeria.
In March, the Federal Government formed an Inter-Ministerial Investigative Committee on Degree Certificate Milling to investigate the activities of certificate racketeers. This action was prompted by a report from Daily Nigerian, authored by Umar Audu, which exposed how easily degrees could be obtained within six weeks in the Benin Republic. Audu himself had obtained a degree and completed the National Youth Service Corps in Nigeria based on that degree.
In response to the report, the Nigerian government has banned the accreditation and evaluation of degrees from Benin Republic and Togo. Following the committee’s findings, Minister of Education Tahir Mamman has pledged to remove individuals with fraudulent degrees from both Nigerian and foreign universities from the educational system.
In a memo dated July 15, 2024, addressed to the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, the education ministry stated, “You may recall that following the publication of allegations of certificate racketeering involving some foreign institutions, especially in Cotonou, Benin Republic, and other countries, the ministry constituted an inter-ministerial committee to investigate the allegations to find lasting solutions.
“The committee has submitted its report and the Honourable Minister of Education has approved its recommendations for implementation.
“In that regard, I hereby convey the request of the honourable minister for the implementation of the following recommendations of the committee:
“Enforce the mandatory requirement for all tertiary institutions in Nigeria to exclusively conduct their admissions processes through the Central Admissions Processing System under the auspices of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board; mandate all tertiary institutions in Nigeria to regularly submit their matriculation lists to the Federal Ministry of Education not later than three months after matriculation ceremonies through the dedicated channel of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board.
“You are kindly requested to implement the above recommendations and furnish the ministry with implementation updates.”