FG DEBUNKS CLAIMS OF 2,000 UNIVERSITIES, 100 FAKE PROFESSORS
The Federal Government has dismissed viral reports claiming that the National Universities Commission (NUC) discovered 2,000 universities and uncovered about 100 fake professors in Nigeria.
The Federal Ministry of Education described the reports as recycled misinformation intended to mislead the public and undermine confidence in the country’s university system.
The Minister of Education, Dr Maruf Tunji Alausa, made the clarification in a statement issued on Saturday through the ministry’s Director of Press and Public Relations, Boriowo Folasade.
According to the ministry, the NUC never declared that Nigeria had 2,000 universities and did not publish, endorse or authenticate the list of individuals currently circulating on social media as fake professors.
The ministry explained that the allegation involving 100 fake professors originated from a distorted version of a media report published on December 3, 2019.
It said the original report concerned an NUC exercise to verify the directory of full professors in Nigerian universities. However, it did not contain the names currently being circulated online.
The ministry added that the NUC had previously disowned the purported list, describing the claims as false and misleading.
On the alleged discovery of 2,000 universities, the government insisted that the commission had never announced such a figure or made any declaration suggesting that Nigeria had that number of universities.
The ministry expressed concern over the continued circulation of the reports, warning that the misinformation could damage the reputation of Nigerian universities and weaken public confidence in the country’s higher education system.
It urged Nigerians, media organisations and social media users to disregard the claims and verify information about recognised universities, academic qualifications and standards through the NUC’s official communication channels.
The Federal Government also reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the NUC in safeguarding academic integrity, strengthening quality assurance and protecting the credibility of Nigeria’s university education system.
In an earlier official rebuttal, the NUC explained that its 2019 exercise was designed to compile and verify the directory of full professors in Nigerian universities. It said the exercise identified data inconsistencies but did not uncover 100 fake professors.
The commission stressed that the verification process had been concluded in 2019 and that the alleged list circulating online was not authentic.
