The Executive Secretary, National Universities Commission (NUC), Professor Julius Okojie has confessed that some Nigerians go abroad to obtain university Degrees which they buy at the foreign countries’ airports.
Professor Okojie who gave the reasons why the commission has recently set up a committee to screen certificates obtained by Nigerian students who studied abroad, when he fielded questions from journalists shortly after the presentation of licences to two new private universities today in Abuja said however that all the universities abroad are not bad.
“Some are really good but it depends on which one. Some of our students who attended universities in Ukraine pass through the UK and get a second degree; in some countries, you can buy a certificate in the airport.
He said that the fact that a foreign university was approved was not enough as the programme pursued by a student might not be approved even as he expressed concern over the quality of universities Nigerian students attend in the West African sub-region, especially in Ghana.
“When they come for NYSC (National Youth Service Corps), they are referred to the Ministry of Education to look at the quality of their certificates.
“Recently, the ministry decided to set up a joint committee of NUC and the Federal Ministry of Education to look at the quality of those certificates; the committee has been set up but it has not been inaugurated.
Professor Okojie said that the committee comprises members from the NUC and the Federal Ministry of Education.
The universities that got provisional licences are Edwin Clark University, Kaigbodo, Delta State, and Hezekiah University, Umudi, Imo State.
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