The Federal Government has debunked viral claims that the National Universities Commission identified about 100 fake professors and uncovered 2,000 universities in the country, saying the commission neither made such declarations nor authenticated the lists circulating on social media.
In a statement issued on Saturday, the Minister of Education, Dr Maruf Tunji Alausa, said the NUC had neither declared the existence of 2,000 universities in Nigeria nor published or endorsed the purported list of individuals being described as fake professors.
The ministry explained that the allegation about fake professors was a distorted version of a media report published on December 3, 2019, concerning an NUC exercise to verify the directory of full professors in Nigerian universities.
“The NUC has never declared the existence of 2,000 fake universities in Nigeria or published, endorsed, or authenticated the purported list of individuals circulating online as fake professors,” he said.
He said the original report did not contain the names currently being circulated online, stressing that the commission had since disowned the purported list.
According to the minister, the recycling of the claims was particularly concerning because of their potential to mislead the public and damage the reputation of the country’s higher education system.
“The ministry expresses concern over the persistent recycling of these false claims, which are calculated to undermine public confidence in Nigerian universities and discredit ongoing efforts to strengthen the education sector, particularly the university system,” the statement read.
It urged members of the public, media organisations and social media users to disregard the claims and verify information about recognised universities and academic standards through the NUC’s official channels.
