The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has disclosed that it will soon put a stop to activities of institutions awarding illegal degrees in the country.

The disclosure was made by the Spokesperson of the Commission, Mrs. Azuka Ogugua, who in a statement today, said that the decision to clamp down on such institutions was reached when the management of the National Universities Commission (NUC) paid a courtesy visit to the commission headquarters in Abuja.

Chairman of ICPC, M.r Bolaji Owasanoye, who said that the Commission would rather partner with NUC to tackle the menace,  and emphasized that it was fraudulent for people to parade fake degrees brought to notice that ICPC was already handling about 12 cases of sexual harassment in tertiary institutions,

He added that a conviction was recently secured against a professor at Obafemi Awolowo University and urged the NUC to help domesticate anti-corruption studies developed by ICPC through its Anti-Corruption Academy of Nigeria (ACAN) in tertiary institutions curriculum which he said had already been fixed into the secondary school curriculum.

 Meanwhile, the Executive Secretary of NUC, Prof. Abubakar Rashid, had earlier lamented that schools that award higher degrees within six months and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degrees in less than one year had become common in Nigeria adding that NUC had found institutions where academic projects and thesis were on sale for N3000 per copy.

Furthermore, Rashid said that another alarming scenario was the influx of graduates with fake degrees from foreign institutions into the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) and he revealed that fake institutions from the Benin Republic and Uganda were now recruiting students from Nigeria.

ICPC had reinforced the belief in Nigeria that corruption can be fought in a more civil and knowledge-based manner, the professor admitted and also added:

“You have assisted us to an extent by weeding out fake degree mills in time past. We need your assistance in tackling illegal universities in the name of foreign universities with centres in Nigeria.

“We have them from the Benin Republic. Sometimes the award degrees in 6 months, while our degrees in Nigeria run for four years and above.

“There was a university in Uganda which recruits only from Nigeria and South Sudan.

“There are also universities from Ghana that rent two-bedroom flats in Lagos and award PhD degrees in six months.“