The Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, said on Friday at least 21,600 people are parading fake certificates obtained from institutions in Benin Republic, Togo and others.
Mamman disclosed this during a ministerial press briefing to mark his one year in office in Abuja.
He said 1,105 students are holding fake certificates from Togo alone.
The Federal Government in March set up an Inter-Ministerial Investigative Committee on Degree Certificate Milling to probe the activities of certificate racketeers.
This followed an investigative report that exposed the activities of fake degree-awarding institutions in the Benin Republic.
The minister stressed that fake degrees from Nigerian and foreign universities would be flushed out of the system.
He said: “The federal government has directed that the Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation (OHCSF) issue circular to flush out anybody with fake certificates from these institutions.
READ ALSO: JAMB accuses Nigerian universities of awarding fake certificates
“In Togo, there are three universities that are officially approved and licenced to offer degree courses, and in Benin Republic, we have five institutions licenced for degree courses.”
Mamman revealed that the ministry in the last one year had returned about four million out-of-school children to school.
He said this was achieved through the efforts of agencies in the ministry.
“Henceforth, on an annual basis, we will be returning about four million out-of-school children to school to address the menace.
“The Almajiri commission that was just established about a year ago is doing a lot in helping to return the out-of-school children to school.
“In the last two weeks, through the Almajiri Commission, about 20,000 students in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have been registered to resume in the next academic session.
“This gesture will trickle down to other states and we are going to see to it that our children get back to school.
“We have also set up a committee with UNESCO and the World Bank to review the existing policy for teachers’ support, welfare, and development using the global best practices.
“By the time the government implements these policies in the next three years, the system of education would have been completely transformed,” he stated.
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