Nigeria News
The ‘Fake Universities’ Syndrome
By Chido Onumah
Last July, shortly after the horrific Dana Air crash that killed over a hundred Nigerians, I did a piece titled “Murder Incorporated”. The thrust of the piece was that the government ought to take the larger blame for the incident. Why? Because ours is a country of “anything goes”.
There are laws, but people break them with impunity and no one gets punished. That really is what separates us from the rest of the so-called developed world. The lack of respect for laws by citizens and the inability of government to uphold the rule of law make all the difference between a stable and prosperous state and one poised to fail.
While working on the article referenced above, I came across a National Universities Commission (NUC) newsletter that had a list of 44 “fake universities” in the country. That piece of information was meant as a cautionary note for students and parents as well as the public. It is hard to say how many of those concerned saw and benefitted from the NUC alert. From all indications, not many.
Just last week, close to a year after the NUC highlighted the issue of “fake universities”, I visited the NUC website only to discover that the list had grown to 49 and counting. It is either that, in response to the country’s glorification of paper qualification, business is thriving for “fake universities” or those who are supposed to rein in these illegal entities are not doing what is expected of them.
That the NUC had to issue another warning recently is a pointer to how menacing the issue has become. The latest information about “fake universities” and “degree mills” in the country came via a public announcement signed by Prof. Julius Okojie, Executive Secretary, National Universities Commission.
“The National Universities Commission (NUC) 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 CAP E3 Law of the Federation of Nigeria 2004,” Prof. Okojie noted.
The list of “fake universities” included such incongruous names as
Christians of Charity American University of Science & Technology, Nkpor, Anambra State; University of Industry, Yaba, Lagos; Blacksmith University, Awka; UNESCO University, Ndoni, Rivers State; The International University, Missouri, USA, Kano and Lagos Study Centres; Pilgrims University operating anywhere in Nigeria; Kingdom of Christ University, Abuja; Acada University, Akinlalu, Oyo State; Fifom University, Mbaise, Imo State; Atlantic Intercontinental University, Okija, Anambra State; Olympic University, Nsukka, Enugu State; and Federal College of Complementary and Alternative Medicine, Abuja.
According to the NUC, “In addition to the closure, the following “Degree Mills” are currently undergoing further investigations and/or ongoing court actions. The purpose of these actions is to prosecute the proprietors and recover illegal fees and charges on subscribers: National University of Nigeria, Keffi, Nasarawa State; North Central University, Otukpo, Benue State; Christ Alive Christian Seminary and University, Enugu, Enugu State; Richmond Open University, Arochukwu, Abia State; West Coast University, Umuahia, Abia State; Saint Clement’s University, Iyin Ekiti, Ekiti State; Volta University College, Aba, Abia State; illegal satellite campuses of Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, Edo State”.
For good measure, Prof Okojie added, “For the avoidance of doubt, anybody who patronises or obtains any certificate from any of these illegal institutions does so at his or her own risk. Certificates obtained from these sources will not be recognised for the purposes of NYSC, employment, and further studies.
The relevant Law enforcement agencies have also been informed for their further necessary action. This list of illegal institutions is not exhaustive”. How reassuring!
It is heartwarming that the NUC appears to be tackling the menace of “fake universities” frontally. But there are many questions begging for answers. What type of “investigations” is the NUC conducting? Universities are not day-care centres. How did these “Degree Mills” start off? Is there a “cabal” behind these “fake universities”? Are there no regulations/requirements before universities are accredited? Did the NUC accredit the universities it is investigating?
The NUC has a list of legally recognised universities in the country and any institution that purports to be a university that is not on the list should be closed down immediately and its proprietors prosecuted. That is the easiest way to put an end to this scam. In this regard, does the NUC have the support of the government and its relevant agencies to prosecute the proprietors of these illegal universities?
Coming on the heels of the federal government’s appointment of Salisu Buhari, discredited former Speaker of the House of Representatives, to the governing council of a federal university, it is easy to see the kind of support the NUC would get from the government. For those who need reminding, Mr. Buhari was the first speaker of the House of Representatives when the Fourth Republic took off in 1999. He came to that position having lied about his age and qualification. He claimed a degree from the University of Toronto, Canada, which he never earned.
When Buhari bowed to public pressure and tearfully tendered his letter of resignation to the House, claiming to be motivated by his zeal to serve his country, he received a thunderous applause from his fellow honourable colleagues who agreed to pardon him. That pardon did come eventually through his mentor, then president, Olusegun Obasanjo.
The other day, I watched presidential spokesman, Reuben Abati, on Channels TV trying laboriously to defend the appointment of Buhari. According to Abati, “The thing about pardon is that it turns you into a new man. Out of 251 persons appointed to governing council of federal universities, I don’t think we really have to worry ourselves so much about one man”.
Perhaps, in tackling the problem of “fake universities” the government needs to borrow a leaf from its own playbook. Only recently, through one of its agencies, the National Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB), the government banned the airing and distribution of the documentary, “Fuelling Poverty”. The 30-minute film documents the corruption in the country’s oil industry, its impact and the response of Nigerians to the waste and obnoxious policies it has engendered.
The NFVCB says the documentary “is highly provocative and likely to incite or encourage public disorder and undermine national security”. It warned the film maker and his associates about the consequences of violating the order, saying “all relevant national security agencies (including the Department of State Services and the Police) are on the alert”. I would think the menace of “fake universities” is a greater threat to us than a 30-minute film that merely documents what Nigerians already know.
We look forward to the outcome of the NUC’s “investigation” and hope that at the end of the day, we actually see people punished for violating the Education (National Minimum Standards etc) Act CAP E3 Law of the Federation of Nigeria 2004.
•Onuma can be reached at e-mail: [email protected]
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Posted in Nigeria News. A DisNaija.Com network.
Source: PM News
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The Kano State Government on Saturday said it has transferred 1,098 ‘almajiris’ to different states of the country.
The commissioner for local government, Murtala Garo, disclosed this while presenting a report before the state’s task force on COVID-19 at the government house, Kano.
Almajiris are children who are supposed to be learning Islamic studies while living with their Islamic teachers. Majority of them, however, end up begging on the streets of Northern Nigeria. They constitute a large number of Nigeria’s over 10 million out-of-school children.
Mr Garo said the Kano government transported 419 almajiris to Katsina, 524 to Jigawa and 155 to Kaduna. He said all of them tested negative for coronavirus before leaving the Kano State.
Despite the coronavirus test done in Kano for the almajiris, the Jigawa government earlier said it would quarantine for two weeks all the almajiris that recently arrived from Kano.
Mr Garo said another 100 almajiris scheduled to be taken to Bauchi State also tested negative to COVID-19.
In a remark, Governor Abdullahi Ganduje said the COVID-19 situation in Kano was getting worse. He appealed for a collaborative effort to curtail the spread of the virus in the state.
Mr Ganduje, who commended residents for complying with the lockdown imposed in the state, said the decision was taken to halt the spread of the virus.
Kano State, as of Saturday night, has 77 coronavirus cases, according to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control.
The decision to transfer the Kano almajiris is part of the agreement reached between Northern governors that almajiris in each state be transferred to their states of origin.
However, even before the latest agreement by the governors, the Kano government had been transferring almajiris to other states and neighbouring countries after it banned street begging in the state, most populous in Northern Nigeria.
Despite the transfers, however, no concrete step has been taken to ensure such children do not return to Kano streets as there is freedom of movement across Nigeria although interstate travel was recently banned to check the spread of the coronavirus.
Sourced From: Premium Times Nigeria
By Ugochukwu Alaribe
Operatives of the Abia State Vigilante Service, AVS, popularly known as ‘Bakassi Boys’ have arrested 24 market women hidden in a container truck, at Ekwereazu Ngwa, the boundary community between Abia and Akwa Ibom states.
The market women, said to be from Akwa Ibom State, were on their way to Aba, when they were arrested with the truck driver and two of his conductors for violating the lockdown order by the state government.
Driver of the truck, Moses Asuquo, claimed he was going to Aba to purchase stock fish, but decided to assist the market women, because they were stranded.
A vigilante source told Sunday Vanguard that the vehicle was impounded while the market women were sent back to Akwa Ibom State.
Commissioner for Home Land Security, Prince Dan Okoli, who confirmed the incident, said that smuggling of people into the state poses great threat to the state government’s efforts to contain the spread of COVID- 19.
Sourced From: Vanguard News
Operatives of the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (SCIID), Yaba of the Lagos State police command have arrested one Mrs Nene Steve for allegedly killing her maid, Joy Adole
The maid was allegedly beaten to death by Nene for requesting for her salary at their residence located at 18, Ogundola Street, Bariga area in Lagos.
Narrating the incident, Philips Ejeh, an elder brother to the deceased said that he was sad when they informed him that his sister was beaten to death.
He explained that the deceased was an indigene of Benue State brought to Lagos through an agent and started working with her as a maid in January 2020.
‘’She reported that her boss refused to pay her and anytime she asked for her salary she will start beating her.
She was making an attempt to leave the place but due to the total lockdown she remained there until Sunday when her boss said she caught her stealing noodles and this led to her serious beating and death,’’ Ejeh said.
He called on Lagos State Government and well- meaning people in the country to help them in getting justice for the victim.
The police spokesman, Bala Elkana, stated that the woman and her husband came to Bariga Police Station to a report that their house girl had committed suicide.
Detectives were said to have visited the house and suspected foul play with the position of the rope and bruises all over the body which confirmed that the girl had been tortured to death and the boss decided to hang up the girl to make it look like suicide.
He said: “The police moved on with their investigation and found a lot of sign of violence on her body that she has been tortured before a rope was put on her neck.’’
He added that the police removed the corpse and deposited it in the mortuary for autopsy to further ascertain the cause of the death.
Elkana said the matter has been transferred from Bariga police station to Panti for further investigation while the couple have been arrested and will be charged to court.
Ostensibly alarmed by the latest killings of dozens of soldiers by Boko Haram insurgents, President Muhammadu Buhari has summoned an urgent meeting of Service Chiefs to find ways to stop the trend.
He has also dispatched the Minister of Defence, Mansur Dan Ali, to the neighbouring Republic of Chad for an urgent meeting with President Idris Deby and his defence counterpart.
Knowledgeable sources said in Abuja on Friday that the president is worried by on the deterioration of security situation on the Nigeria – Chad Border that has led to the recently increased Boko Haram terrorism in the area.
The sources which did not want to be named in Abuja said: “Nigeria has a Chad problem in the Multi-National Joint Task Force (MNJTF) put together to secure the Lake Chad basin areas and repeal the Boko Haram terrorist attacks against all the countries neighbouring the Lake.”
The sources noted that Chad is believed to be having their own internal security challenges and this has reportedly led to their pulling away their own troops manning their own border around Lake Chad, saying: “That lacuna is being exploited by the Boko Haram terrorists, who go in and out of Nigeria, Niger and Cameroon to launch terrorist acts. This is a clear illustration of the fact that terrorism is beyond national borders.”
When contacted, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, confirmed that the Defence Minister is going to Chad but said he is unaware of the purpose.
Meanwhile, the military authorities are said to be in the process of identifying the families of the latest victims with a view to making contact with them.
Credible sources revealed that it is the reason the president is yet to make any pronouncement on the matter.
“The President has called an urgent meeting with the Service Chiefs, as well as the fact that families of the latest victims of the Boko Haram are being identified and contacts made before a government pronouncement on the tragic attacks. This, it is understood, is the reason for the silence of the government over the incident,” the source said.
Sourced From: Tribune
Nigeria records 55 new COVID-19 infections, total now 165,110
Military, Police Ring Abuja to Forestall Boko Haram Attack
UFC: Usman gets N584m after beating Masvidal
Insecurity: Lagos bans occupation of abandoned buildings
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