The Federal Government, on Tuesday, said it would launch an investigation into private universities established in the last 15 years.
The Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, made this known in Abuja while inaugurating the investigative panel on fake degrees and activities of degree mills in the country.
Mamman said the investigation would show if the private institutions under investigation have in the place prescribed facilities, adequate management structure, and adequate funding of programmes, among others.
He noted that the inter-ministerial committee set up to look into the activities of illegal universities would also examine “the veracity of the allegations of degree certificate racketeering within both foreign and local private universities in Nigeria”.
Nigeria currently has a total of 147 private universities. Checks on the National Universities Commission’s (NUC) website indicate that 107 of them were established in the last 15 years. Among them are Adeleke University, Ede, Osun State; Landmark University, Omu-Aran, Kwara State; Elizade University, Ilara-Mokin, Ondo State; and Baze University, Abuja, among others.
The education minister said the inter-ministerial panel had been given a mandate to “examine whether or not private universities established in the last 15 years have in the place prescribed facilities, appropriate management structure, adequate funding of programmes, requisite staff (nature of staff-full time, contract, adjunct, visiting, other types)”.
The panel is also to “examine the procedures and processes for periodic accreditation of programmes in the universities by the NUC and examine their effectiveness in quality assurance of the programmes”.
The panel will also, as part of its Terms of Reference, “review the role of any MDA or its officials (including identifying such officials) in the facilitation of the recognition and procurement of the fake certificate in question”.
The panel will also “examine the rules, procedures, and processes for recognition and accreditation of foreign universities and programmes by the Federal Ministry of Education”.
Other terms of reference include to: “Establish if unapproved foreign institutions (degree mills) exist or not in Nigeria in whatever form with their identities and locations if any.
“Make appropriate recommendations for review of any rules, procedures, processes to prevent re-occurrence and sanctions for identified erring officials.
“Make other recommendations that will strengthen the system of recognitions, accreditations, and quality assurance of degrees in Nigeria
“Examine the extant rules, procedures, and processes for granting of provisional licences to new universities by the National Universities Commission.:
The PUNCH reports that the activities of degree mills once again came to the centre of discussions in Nigeria following an investigative report by a journalist with the Daily Nigerian newspaper, Umar Audu, on the activities of degree mills in Benin Republic and Togo.
The reporter revealed how he obtained a degree within six weeks and even proceeded to embark on mandatory youth service under the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme.
Audu, who reached out to the syndicate that specialises in selling degree certificates in December 2022, graduated in February 2023 and was issued a Bachelor of Science in Mass Communication certificate from the Ecole Superieure de Gestion et de Technologies, Cotonou, Benin Republic.
The report, which exposed the illegalities perpetrated by some tertiary institutions in the West African countries, led to the Nigerian government placing a ban on the accreditation and evaluation of degrees from Benin Republic and Togo.
No fewer than 10,900 Nigerian students studying in Beninois and Togolese universities are expected to be affected by the Nigerian government ban, according to statistics provided by the National Association of Nigerian Students in Benin Republic and Togo.
Also, the National Universities Commission, the regulatory body of universities in Nigeria revealed that no fewer than 18 out of the 58 universities whose operations have been suspended in Nigeria are foreign-owned.
Below are the 107 universities to be probed;
1. Adeleke University, Ede, Osun State
2. Baze University, FCT Abuja
3. Landmark University, Omu-Aran, Kwara State
4. Glorious Vision University (formerly Samuel Adegboyega University), Ogwa, Edo State
5. McPherson University, Seriki Sotayo, Ajebo, Ogun State
6. Elizade University, Ilara-Mokin, Ondo State
7. Southwestern University, Oku Owa, Ogun State
8. Evangel University, Ebonyi State
9. Gregory University, Uturu, Abia State
10. Augustine University, Ilara, Lagos State
11. Chrisland University, Owode, Ogun State
12. Christopher University, Mowe, Ogun State
13. Hallmark University, Ijebu-Itele, Ogun State
14. Kings University Ode-Omu, Osun State
15. Michael & Cecilia Ibru University, Owhode, Delta State
16. Mountain Top University, Makogi/Oba, Ogun State
17. Ritman University, Ikot Ekpene, Akwalbom State
18. Summit University, Offa, Kwara State
19. Edwin Clark University, Kiagbodo, Delta State
20. Hezekiah University, Umudi, Imo State
21. Anchor University, Ayobo, Lagos State
22. Arthur Jarvis University, Akpabuyo, Cross River State
23. Clifford University, Abia State
24. Coal City University, Enugu state
25. Ojaja University, Ilorin, Kwara state
26. Dominican University, Ibadan, Oyo State
27. Kola Daisi University., Ibadan, Oyo State
28. Legacy University, Okija, Anambra State
29. Spiritan University, Neochi, Abia State
30. Precious Cornerstone, Ibadan, Oyo State
31. PAMO University of Medical Sciences, Port-Harcourt, Rivers State
32. Atiba University, Oyo, Oyo State
33. Eko University of Medical Sciences, Ijanikin, Lagos
34. Skyline University, Nigeria, Kano, Kano State
35. Greenfield University, Kasarami-Kaduna, Kaduna State
36. Dominion University, Ibadan, Oyo State
37. Trinity University, Laloko, Ogun State
38. Westland University, Iwo, Osun State
39. Topfaith University, Mkpatak, Akwa-Ibom State
40. Thomas Adewumi University, Oko-Irese, Kwara State
41. Maranatha University, Lekki, Lagos State
42. Ave-Maria University, Piyanko, Nasarawa State
43. AL-Istigama University, Sumaila, Kano State
44. Mudiame University, Irrua, Edo State
45. Havilla University, Nde-Ikom, Cross River State
46. Claretian University of Nigeria, Nekede, Imo State
47. Karl-Kumm University, Vom, Plateau State
48. Nok University, Kachia, Kaduna State
49. James Hope University, Lekki, Lagos state
50. Maryam Abacha American University of Nigeria, Kano, Kano State
51. Capital City University, Kano, Kano State
52. Ahman Pategi University, Patigi, Kwara State
53. University of Offa, Offa, Kwara State
54. Mewar University, Masaka, Nasarawa State
55. Edusoko University, Bida, Niger State
56. Philomath University, Kuje, Abuja
57. Khadija University, Majia, Jigawa State
58. ANAN University, Kwall, Plateau State
59. Pen Resource University, Gombe, Gombe State
60. Al-Ansar University, Maiduguri, Borno
61. Margaret Lawrence University, Galilee, Delta State
62. Khalifa Isiyaku Rabiu University, Kano, Kano State
63. Sports University, Idumuje, Ugboko, Delta State
64. Baba-Ahmed University, Kano, Kano State
65. Salsa University Of Medical Sciences and Technology, Sokoto, Sokoto State
66. Nigerian British University, Asa, Abia State
67. Peter University, Achina-Onneh, Anambra State
68. Newgate University, Minna, Niger State
69. European University of Nigeria, Abuja, FCT
70. Northwest University, Sokoto, Sokoto State
71. Rayhaan University, Kebbi State
72. Muhammad Kamalud-Deen University, Ilorin, Kwara State
73. Sam Maris University, Supare, Ondo State
74. Aletheia University, Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State
75. Lux Mundi University, Umuahia, Abia State
76. Maduka University, Ekwegbe, Enugu State
77. Peaceland University, Enugu, Enugu State
78. Amadeus University, Amizi, Abia State
79. Vision University, Ikogbo, Ogun State
80. Azman University, Kano, Kano State
81. Huda University, Gusau, Zamfara State
82. Franco British International University, Kaduna, Kaduna State
83. Canadian University of Nigeria, Abuja, FCT
84. Miva Open University, Abuja, FCT
85. Gerar University of Medical Sciences, Imope-ljebu, Ogun State
86. British Canadian University, Obudu, Cross River State
87. Hensard University, Toru-Orua, Bayelsa State
88. Phoenix University, Agwada, Nasarawa State
89. Wigwe University, Isiokpo, Rivers State
90. Hillside University of Science and Technology, Okemesi Ekiti, Ekiti State
91. University on the Niger, Umunya, Anambra State
92. Elrazi University of Medical Sciences, Kano Kano State
93. Venite University, Iloro-Ekiti, Ekiti State
94 Shanahan University, Onitsha, Anambra State
95. Duke Medical University, Calabar, Cross River State
96. Mercy Medical University, Iwara, Iwo, Osun State
97. Cosmopolitan University, Abuja, FCT
98. Iconic Open University, Sokoto, Sokoto State
99. West Midland Open University, Ibadan, Oyo State
100. Amaj University, Abuja, FCT
101. Prime University, Abuja, FCT
102. El-Amin University, Niger State
103. College of Petroleum and Energy Studies, Kaduna, Kaduna State
104. Jewel University, Gombe, Gombe State
105. Nigerian University of Technology and Management, Apapa, Lagos State
106. Al-Muhibbah Open University, Abuja, FCT
107. Al-Bayan University, Kogi state+
