The National Universities Commission has debunked certain media reports, claiming that it uncovered a total of 100 fake professors in some universities across the country.
The Acting Executive Secretary of NUC, Chris Maiyaki, described the reports as fake and a figment of the authors’ imagination.
Some media organisations, excluding the Nigerian Tribune, had come up with a list of universities that the NUC had indicted for having fake professors.
However, Maiyaki, in a statement he personally signed and made available to newsmen on Monday in Abuja, stated that the Commission categorically and unequivocally denies these media reports.
He clarified that although the NUC initiated a verification process in 2019 for academics in Nigerian universities, it never released a list of fake professors in 2024. The acting Executive Secretary stated, “The attention of the National Universities Commission (NUC) has been drawn to news items circulating on social media, some national dailies, and television stations, stating that the Commission has just ‘discovered over 100 fake Professors in Nigerian Universities.'”
“The NUC wishes to deny these media reports categorically and unequivocally. They are fake, untrue, and a figment of the imagination of the author(s), all happening at an unsuitable time when the nation is awaiting the outcome of the investigation into the fake certificate saga from universities in some neighbouring countries.”
“The Commission, therefore, finds this development unfair to all stakeholders.”
“Specifically, the fake news items have been circulating in two forms: (i) as a link to a 2019 online news item; and (ii) as a separate list of names of the alleged fake professors in various Nigerian universities, which was not the case.”
“We consider these unfounded publications as ill-conceived and a ploy by unscrupulous persons to create an implausible tone, disquiet, panic, and provoking national and international outcries.”
“To avoid doubt, the Commission can confirm that it initiated in 2019 a laudable project with the intent of compiling and publishing a list of full professors in the Nigerian Universities System (NUS) through an online portal to collate the requisite data. During the exercise, the NUC found anomalies, such as Associate Professors being listed as full Professors.”
“It is essential to state clearly that the Commission, as a responsible Federal Government Agency, does not engage in half-baked exercises capable of tarnishing the image of Nigeria and the NUS.”
“That was why the Commission deemed it necessary to share the collated data with the Nigerian universities for the purpose of authentication by the competent authorities as to who qualifies to be a full professor,” Maiyaki stated.
He added that, based on the verified data, the Commission then, in a landmark accomplishment, first published the list of full professors who participated in the exercise in 2019, saying it was understood that this would be followed by a continuous process of updating the list of full professors.
“It is important to state at this point that all the issues pertaining to the 2019 verification of full professors in Nigerian universities were concluded in 2019. Since then, the Commission has entrenched a more reliable system of generating the list of full professors in the NUS,” he said.
Part of the statement read: “The Commission is also conscious that some of the academics not captured in the 2019 exercise may now have matured and progressed to become full professors; this is why it continuously updates the list of full professors in the NUS.
“The National Universities Commission questions the rationale behind recycling this stale 2019 news of an activity it initiated, conducted, and laid to rest in the same year.”
“The purpose and objective of resurrecting this no-longer-fresh news in 2024 (more than 4 years later) is clearly intended to generate unnecessary controversy at an unsuitable time while lacing it with a false list of fake professors.”
“The National Universities Commission owes it a solemn duty to protect and guard the integrity of the many hardworking and committed academics in the NUS who have earned national and international respect and recognition.”
“Therefore, the Commission has been saddled with the vital and strategic responsibility by its enabling laws to uphold the sanctity of quality in all aspects of our university education delivery.”
“The Commission wishes to use this medium to advise government officials at all levels, members of the NUS, the international community, and the public to please disregard these items of fake and stale news which have long been laid to rest in 2019.”
“All information concerning the role of the NUC in the regulation of the NUS can be found on our official website www.nuc.edu.ng. Further enquiries can also be made via the Commission’s official email address: info@nuc.edu.ng”
“Please be assured of our highest considerations at all times and best wishes for a much more fulfilling and prosperous 2024,” it stated.