The Federal Government has dismissed civil servants holding degree certificates from universities in the Benin Republic as part of its ongoing crackdown on fake academic qualifications.
According to Segun Imohiosen, Director of Information at the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), this move aligns with a 2017 directive to address degrees obtained from unaccredited universities in the Benin Republic that fail to meet Nigeria’s academic standards.
The dismissals are based on findings from an inter-ministerial committee established by the government to identify and remove employees with such unrecognized degrees acquired between 2017 and the present.
Esther Wilson- Jack, head of service of the federation, had recently assured that the government would continue to clean up the federal civil service to weed out “unqualified staff employed under questionable circumstances.”
Speaking during her first 100 days of service, the Head of Service said her office will ensure constant appraisal of the system, adding that “ there will be no room for anyone we discovered has been improperly employed.”
Recall that the federal government had announced the names of eight universities accredited in Togo and Benin Republic.
They include the Universite De Lome, Universite De Kara and the Catholic University of West Africa.
Others are: the Universite D’Abomey-Calavi., Universite De Parakou, Universite Nationale Des Sciences, Technologies, Ingenierie Et Mathematiques, Universite Nationale D’Agriculture and Universite Africaine De Developpement Cooperatif.
Mamman Tahir, former minister of education, had, while speaking on the accredited institutions, vowed that the government would ensure that those still in the federal civil service with the ‘fake’ certificate from non- accredited institutions would “face severe consequences.”
He also assured that both the Office of the Head of Service and that of the SGF will “take decisive steps to root out such cases within the public sector.”