By Muhammad Sani Usman
It is not just in Togo or Cotonou; mushroom universities are widespread in Asia, especially in India, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and even some parts of core Europe.
The incident with this Cotonou one-year degree made me curious to discuss the issue with a student in Germany. He told me about the presence of substandard schools even in Germany. If such universities can be found in Germany, I wonder, where is safe? Most often, our federal universities in Nigeria, in comparison, seem to offer a more reliable education.
The significance of university rankings becomes apparent, particularly in the West, during job hunting. Employers often emphasise the importance of your university’s ranking in their consideration for an interview.
That’s why you’ll see graduates from places like Sudan or Cyprus facing challenges in passing medical and dental council exams in Nigeria due to the issues associated with their questionable degrees and institutions.
The situation in India is the worst one, and our best Nigerian students are often directed to these quack private universities, which are not on the accreditation list globally.
You’ll be seeing celebrities flaunting their graduation pictures and certificates obtained from Cyprus private universities while we know they are here in Nigeria shooting “Izzar So” and whatnot. How and when they studied still remains a mystery to all.
While not intending to generalise, our thirst for foreign certificates poses these challenges. Until we go for the best, our education and leadership will go nowhere.
Our government did an excellent job on these Benin and Togo degrees/certificates, until a system is established to check and authenticate these universities, the proliferation of quack PhD holders, which can indeed be detrimental to our growth will surely be the order of the day. Investing in our own institutions and striving for excellence globally should be our main priority and concern.
Muhammad Sani Usman can be reached via muhdusman1999@gmail.com.