Lack of Political Will against Forgers

The Minister of Education, Tahir Mamman, again last week declared that security agencies would go after individuals with fake university certificates.

When the minister first hinted that security agents would go after people with fake certificates from foreign countries who had used them to secure opportunities in the country, some Nigerians who studied hard to obtain their certificates were elated.

But little did they know that it would soon become a singsong.

Mamman had described such individuals as criminals and not victims. He said the federal government would suspend degree certificates from countries like Uganda, Kenya and the Niger Republic.

The minister’s threat came after an undercover journalist had detailed how he acquired a degree from a university in Benin Republic within two months and in fact, deployed for the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC). This led to the federal government immediately suspending accreditation of certificates from the two francophone West African nations.

The Nigerian government also inaugurated a probe committee, which the minister said should submit its report in three months.

Four months after, rather than informing Nigerians how many people have been arrested, the minister was still blowing hot on the issue at the maiden quarterly citizens and stakeholders’ engagement in Nigeria’s education sector in Abuja.

This explains why many Nigerians don’t take the government seriously. That issue, as scandalous as it was, was swept under the carpet. It is when a similar incident happens that the issue would resurface. This stance speaks volumes about government complacency and lack of political will.

Those who committed this crime need to be dealt with to serve as a deterrent to other would-be perpetrators. This is what moves any society forward.

In developed societies, certificate forgery is considered a serious crime.

For the minister to come out last Tuesday to tell Nigerians again that security agencies would soon go after individuals with fake university certificates in the country was an insult to our collective intelligence. Nigerians deserve to know how many people have been arrested and prosecuted.