by Prof. Abubakar Adamu
Rasheed, Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC) has
revealed that about 100 fake professors have been uncovered by the commission.
Prof Rasheed said their details were posted on the NUC
website and the commission had to send the names to the various universities
for verification. This is contained a recent bulletin of NUC. He disclosed this
at the 2019 retreats for Vice-Chancellors and thanked them for their
cooperation with the NUC Strategy Advisory Committee (STRADVCOM) which had
published, among other things, directory of full professors in the Nigeria
University System (NUS); statistical Digest of the NUS 2017-2018; refinement
and modernisation of instruments for accreditation of undergraduate,
postgraduate, part-time, affiliate, open and distance learning programmes and
institutional as well as state of university education in Nigeria 2017- 2018.
The NUC boss said that the updated version of those documents would be
published by December 2019 and that professors in their respective universities
uploaded their curricula vitae on the website which was used in the compilation
of the directory of full professors in the NUS and had helped in identifying
fake professors in the system.
He encouraged the vice-chancellors to have accurate
statistics of staff, students and other components in their respective
universities off-hand. He applauded them for ensuring that institutions, as he
also cautioned them to be mindful while signing certificates of students
especially those of affiliate institutions under their purview. Rasheed
stressed that the fight against fake professors was a collective
responsibility. The executive secretary informed the Vice-Chancellors of a
recent meeting held with the Director-General, National Youth Service Corps
(NYSC) where the latter complained that some Corp members’ degree certificates
purportedly obtained from some prestigious universities were questionable. The
NUC boss directed that the vice-chancellors should check the excesses of their
affiliated institutions, noting that lecturers hardly spend time with their
students and argued that Ph.D. supervisions had lacked the necessary quality
time required and desired as both the lecturers and students did not create
time for each other. He called on universities to spearhead the fight against academic
corruption which must be tackled by all stakeholders, appealing that
universities should also inform the commission on any criminal case in their
institutions. Prof Rasheed also clarified that lecturers were not permitted to
teach in more than two universities, while minimum teaching for eight hours
should be enforced and the practice where lecturers move from three to four
universities must stop.
Source: Vanguard Nigeria News
