The Federal Government has mandated all higher institutions in the country to “regularly submit their matriculation lists to the Federal Ministry of Education not later than three months after matriculation ceremonies.”
This development comes after the NYSC last Thursday, demobilised a total of 54 fake corps members who were illegally mobilised by the University of Calabar. The government said the lists must be submitted “through the dedicated channel of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board.”
In March, the Federal Government set up an Inter-Ministerial Investigative Committee on Degree Certificate Milling to probe the activities of certificate racketeers following an investigative report published by Daily Nigerian which exposed the activities of fake degree mills in the Benin Republic.
Daily Nigerian reporter Umar Audu revealed how he obtained a degree within six weeks and even proceeded to embark on mandatory youth service under the National Youth Service Corps scheme back in Nigeria.
The investigative 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.
The Minister of Education, Tahir Mamman, having received the report of the committee, noted that holders of fake degrees from Nigerian and foreign universities will be flushed out of the system.
In a memo addressed to the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board on July 15, 2024, the education ministry said, “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.”
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In a recent memo titled “CLARIFICATION ON DISCLOSURE OF ADMITTED CANDIDATES OUTSIDE CAPS (2017-DATE)”, JAMB highlighted its focus on improving transparency in the admissions process. The memo mandates that institutions submit their matriculation lists to the Federal Ministry of Education within three months of the ceremony. The list should be sent through JAMB’s dedicated channel.
“The Board has observed a large number of candidates thronging its offices to resolve issues related to the disclosure of candidates admitted outside CAPS from 2017 to date,” stated Fabian Benjamin, JAMB’s Public Communications Advisor.
He emphasized that: “This directive requires immediate attention and compliance. We urge institutions to carefully review our initial letter and ensure full compliance, as failure to disclose will result in severe consequences. Candidates are also reminded not to accept admissions outside CAPS.
“The Board reiterate that candidates not disclosed by institutions would not be entertained. The Board will not tolerate any condonement of undisclosed admissions moving forward.”
The development comes after the Federal Government set up an Inter-Ministerial Investigative Committee on Degree Certificate Milling, to probe the activities of certificate racketeers following an investigative report published by Daily Nigerian which exposed the activities of fake degree mills in the Benin Republic.
