Lists Of Blacklisted Foreign Universities Did Not Emanate From Us-NUC

Following the report of an undercover journalist, Umar Audu, on certificate racketeering syndicate in neighbouring African countries like Benin Republic and Togo, some lists of banned foreign universities purported to have emanated from the National Universities Commission(NUC) have been circulating.

However, the Director, Public Relations, National Universities Commission(NUC), Mallam Haruna Ajo, in an interview with THE WHISTLER said that the list did not emanate from the NUC, explaining that the Commission had no control over what happened beyond the borders of the country.

“It didn’t emanate from us. We didn’t release anything like that,” he said.

He, however, noted that one of the lists circulating might have been the list of illegal universities in the country which the Commission have continuously published in its weekly Bulletin.

“We continuously put this list on our bulletin so that people will know that the universities are illegal,” he said.

THE WHISTLER gathered that the list with 58 illegal universities, has always been published in the Bulletin even before the publication of the investigative report by Daily Nigerian Newspaper titled “UNDERCOVER: How DAILY NIGERIAN reporter bagged Cotonou varsity degree in 6 weeks”.

Ajo, who stated that many of the illegal universities have been closed down, noted that the continuous publishing of the names was to ensure that Nigerians do not fall prey to them any time they resurface.

Explaining further on NUC’s relationship with foreign universities, Ajo said, “We only control what is ours. We don’t control what other people are doing in their country but we partner with similar organisations that are like NUC in other countries so whatever they tell us, we believe them because we think as a nation, they will need to protect what is theirs too.”

Haruna disclosed that the NUC recently opened a department, Open Distance and E-Learning aimed at attracting foreign investors and universities interested in opening universities in Nigeria.

“We will discuss with them and give them the guidelines and after they might have met up with the guidelines, the Federal Executive Council has to approve them. However, as of now, we have not started but the department is already there. The rules are there and we have posted the six models on our website,” he said.

He added that for now, NUC is not liaising with any foreign universities and urged the public to be wary of any fraudsters who might want to deceive them.