A Nigerian journalist with The Daily Nigerian online newspaper, Uma Audu has uncovered a certificate racketeering business in Cotonou, Republic of Benin, where clients can complete a four-year degree course in 6-weeks and get awarded a degree for a fee.
Audu’s undercover investigations started in December 2022 according the report by Daily Nigerian. He reached out to a racketeering syndicate that specializes in selling the infamous degree certificates from the neighboring countries to willing buyers at an ‘affordable rate’.
The agent gave the reporter the breakdown of the amount to pay, which included tuition fees, an evaluation letter, a resident permit, immigration stamps at the border post and transportation.
On December 27, 2022, Audu made the payment and was issued a payment receipt.
True to the agent’s words, the certificate and transcript of Ecole Superieure de Gestion et de Technologies, ESGT, Cotonou, Benin Republic, were delivered to his office on February 17, 2023.
The transcript indicated that Audu commenced the institution in 2018 and graduated on September 5, 2022..
A scan code placed on the left bottom of the transcript verified the authenticity of the results on the website of ESGT University, indicating that Audu had actually graduated from the institution.
On its website, ESGT, established in 2009, said, “It is an institution built upon a vision that enables individuals from a mix of different nationalities and cultures to get the best in undergraduate and postgraduate international education.”.
The institution is fully accredited by both the governments of the Benin Republic and Nigeria. It offers over 30 courses in management sciences, social sciences, applied and natural sciences as well as technology.
It was gathered that the racketeering agents in Nigeria work hand-in-hand with the top management of the university campus in Cotonou, whose registrar and English section coordinator are Nigerians.
Uma Audu Enrolls into NYSC With Substandard Degree From Cotonou Varsity
After payment of additional money through the agent, an evaluation letter, a mandatory requirement for National Youth Service Scheme (NYSC) mobilization, was given to Audu, with which he enrolled into the compulsory national service in Nigeria.
In separate letters dated May 25 and 26, addressed to the director general of the National Youth Service Scheme, NYSC, the Federal Ministry of Education confirmed that the ESGT is on the ministry’s list of accredited institutions.
The letter, which was signed on behalf of the minister by the deputy director of Evaluation and Accreditation, Koli Salihu-Mongodiba, also cleared 51 ESGT graduates to participate in the NYSC, “having met all the requirements set by the ministry”.
“The institution is on the ministry’s list of accredited institutions in Benin, and the bachelor degrees awarded to the students as indicated on the attached list are equivalent to bachelor degrees awarded by any Nigerian university in a similar field of study,” the letter read in part.
Despite having previously served in the NYSC, Audu was re-admitted, without detection, into the scheme for a second time with a substandard degree certificate.
agents of these mushroom universities connived with some corrupt officials at the Federal Ministry of Education to get evaluation letters for a fee ranging from N40,000 to N70,000 per “graduate”.
