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People in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda have been found buying fake degrees of all sorts from diploma mills and other bogus universities. Those universities have no physical existence and operate only through websites. Most diploma mills are operating from Britain or United States where academic standards are presumed to be very high. Recently, the Federal Bureau of Investigations compiled a list of over 10,000 persons who obtained fake degrees from diploma mills in USA. A significant number of them are from South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria. Currently, there are about 80 notorious diploma mills that operate from the United States and the UK.

Last week, the National Universities Commission (NUC) announced the existence of 33 illegal universities in the country. In May, the NUC had earlier declared that sixteen out of these institutions were illegal and warned Nigerians against patronizing them. Also declared illegal were unlicensed satellite campuses, outreach campuses and study centers countrywide. The universities' regulatory body also stated that it had not approved any offshore universities to operate in the country. The Commission said that five owners of such institutions had been arrested and were being prosecuted to dissuade others.

From 1995 to 2001, Nigerian degree mills produced annually about 15 percent of total university graduates in the country. In the past 9 years, a flurry of activity has been directed at eradicating the degree mills. In 1999, the National Council on Education (NUC) directed the closure of all local and foreign satellite campuses. It also partnered with the Department of State Services (Nigeria's secret service) in locating, arresting, and prosecuting operators of unapproved universities and satellite campuses. Finally, it directed approved universities to make full disclosure of their programs, which have been listed in the Directory of Approved Programmes in the Nigerian University System.

The economic and financial crimes commission and the police have begun the prosecution of proprietors of three illegal private universities operating in the country. The proprietors of the institutions are being prosecuted for operating illegally and for collecting money illegally from innocent students.

The number of fake universities operating in the country has risen from 44 to 51 National Universities Commission (NUC) has alerted. According to the weekly news bulletin of NUC, eight of the universities had been taken to court, while some are currently undergoing investigations.

During an interview, the Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) discussed the problems and undercurrents of the nation's education sector and the way forward. He strongly criticized the irregularities in the system and said that fighting corruption in its totality must be a priority.

The Niger State Governor has called on the Teachers' Registration Council to go beyond the registration of qualified teachers and enforce basic ethics for teachers, as is being done in other professions. A representative of the All Nigeria Confederation of Principals of Secondary Schools (ANCOPSS) also stated teaching could only be a respected profession if there is standard ethics.

The Nigerian Minister of State for Education has discharged bribery allegations of 40 per cent (N6.8bn) kick-back from 4th quarter allocation of 104 Unity Colleges from principals of schools. The Minister claimed that the report was baseless and false.

The Kogi State Government claims to have uncovered 800 non-existing primary schools and at least 3,000 ghost teachers on its pay roll during a recent screening exercise. The Nigerian Accountant-general who informed journalists in Lokoja of this, said that such expenditures had been draining government coffers and that counteractive measures would be taken.

The Acting Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) has focused the commission's attention on purging the Nigerian university system of the menace of corruption with the cooperation and collaboration of the National Universities Commission (NUC). This will entail a comprehensive system study and review of the country's institutions.