Gbenro Adesina
The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and National University Commission (NUC) are concluding arrangements to clampdown on universities awarding illegal degrees in Nigeria as well as lecturers found sexually harassing their students.
The ICPC Acting Head of Public Enlightenment Department, Azuka Ogugua, revealed this in a statement, saying the decision to clampdown on such universities was reached when the NUC Management paid the commission a courtesy visit.
Ogugua, quoting ICPC Chairman, Bolaji Owasanoye, said the Commission would partner with NUC to tackle these two major problems in the universities, stressing that it was fraudulent for people to parade fake degrees.
Owasanoye disclosed that the commission was currently handling about 12 cases of sexual harassment in tertiary institutions, pointing out that, a conviction was recently secured against a professor in Obafemi Awolowo University.
He appealed to the NUC to domesticate anti-corruption studies developed by ICPC through its Anti-Corruption Academy of Nigeria (ACAN) in tertiary institutions’ curriculum, which had been embedded in secondary school curriculum.
Earlier, the NUC Executive Secretary, Professor Abubakar Rashid, lamented the award of higher degrees within six months and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degrees in less than one year by some universities in Nigeria.
Noting that NUC had found institutions where academic projects and thesis were on sale for N3, 000 per copy, he described as disturbing the influx of graduates with fake degrees from foreign institutions into the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC).
Rashid also revealed that fake institutions from Benin Republic and Uganda were now recruiting students from Nigeria.
