Just Like A Pizza, My Cotonou Certificate Was Delivered To Me, Undercover Reporter Says

An undercover journalist, Umar Audu, on Wednesday stated that the degree certificate he got from a Cotonou-based University was delivered to him just as a pizza is delivered at someone’s doorstep.

Recall that Audu in his investigative report titled, “How Daily Nigerian reporter bagged Cotonou varsity degree in 6 weeks,” exposed a booming certificate racketeering syndicate in neighbouring African countries like Benin Republic and Togo, that specialises in selling university degrees to willing buyers in Nigeria.

Audu, who was speaking on Channels Television’s Morning Brief on Wednesday, stated that he did not have to travel out of Nigeria to obtain the certificate that was delivered to him within six weeks.

“This certificate will be delivered to you just like you ordered for a pizza or something, and you give them your location, and it is delivered to you. That was what motivated me to conduct this investigation..

“We have done a similar investigation in the past in 2018, which led to the government taking certain decisions. These things keep going on despite pronouncements by the Federal Government,” he said.

Audu’s report led to the Federal Government announcing the suspension of evaluation and accreditation of degree certificates from tertiary institutions in Benin, Togo.

The Federal Ministry of Education in a statement yesterday, stated that the suspension persists pending the outcome of an investigation involving the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Education of Nigeria and the two countries as well as the Department of State Security Services (DSS), and the National Youths Service Corps (NYSC).