Benin’s ‘tokumbo’ degrees and Nigeria, where anything goes

One of most topical and trending news item that dominated Nigeria’s media space in the past one week is the report of Daily Nigerian’s investigative journalist, Umar Audu, which exposed the sale of fake degree certificates to desperate Nigerians by ‘universities’ in neighbouring Benin Republic. Although the phenomenon had been going on for long, Umar Audu’s recent account did not only illustrate how corruption is deeply and voraciously destroying Nigeria but further exposes how weak most public systems in the country have become; a confirmation that Nigeria is a country where anything goes.

With the importation of second-hand vehicles popularly called ‘tokumbo’ from Cotonou into Nigeria since the early 1980s, it is little surprise that the same Benin Republic which is a smaller and less-endowed nation became a destination for Nigerians seeking low-priced higher education. Being an old phenomenon, the news in Audu’s story is not in the ‘tokumbo’ degrees, but rather in the speed and rate at which such could be acquired.

In December 2022, Audu reached out to a racketeering syndicate that deals in the sale of fake degree certificates from the neighboring countries. The agent asked Audu to choose between ‘studying’ for a year or a month, but Audu went for the 4-weeks option. “That’s not a problem. We have done it for a lot of people. If you make the payment now, the results will be ready next month,” the agent said.

The agent gave Audu the amount to pay, which included tuition fee, an evaluation letter, a resident permit, immigration stamps at the border post and transportation. On December 27, 2022, Audu made the payment and like a prophecy, the certificate and transcript of Ecole Superieure de Gestion et de Technologies, ESGT, Cotonou, Benin Republic, were delivered on February 17, 2023. All this was done in less than two months without application, registration, matriculation, studying, writing exams, submitting a project, and above all without crossing the Nigerian border. Ironically, the transcript showed that Audu commenced studies in the institution in 2018 and graduated on September 5, 2022. The scan code on the transcript directed Audu to the website of ESGT University, showing he’s a genuine product of the institution. Incredibly, this same dubious university is fully accredited by both the governments of the Benin Republic and Nigeria.

Audu had to give more money to bribe officials at the Federal Ministry of Education (FME) to hasten the release of evaluation letter, which is a mandatory requirement for the mobilisation of foreign graduates into the NYSC scheme. In separate letters addressed to the director general of the National Youth

Service Corps (NYSC), the FME confirmed that the ESGT is on the ministry’s list of accredited institutions. The letters cleared Audu and other 51 ESGT graduates to participate in the NYSC.

Thereafter, Audu presented himself for physical verification and online evaluation of his documents. He also had to bribe an immigration officer to stamp his passport with retrospective dates to show evidence of multiple entry and exit at Seme Border between 2018 and 2022. Audu eventually registered on the NYSC portal and was mobilized for national service in July 3, 2023 but had to use a different phone number and email address since he had once registered on the portal using the same contact number and email. Sometime in November 22, Audu was posted to Cross River for the one-year national service.

As a requirement for a university degree in Nigeria, genuine higher education seekers work hard to obtain credit passes in five relevant subjects including English and Mathematics in their ordinary level exams (WAEC/NECO/NABTEB). This is in addition to scoring above the national cut-off point in the Unified Tertiary Matriculations Examination (UTME). On the other hand, applicants seeking tokumbo degrees do not require all these, which explains why they rush to Benin Republic or Cotonou study centers in Nigeria. In fact, it does not matter whether the credit passes in the ordinary level result included English and Mathematics. The only two basic requirements for acquiring a tokumbo degree certificate are: (1) Any ordinary level result, fake or genuine, and (2) The capacity to pay for the tokumbo degree certificate. The money to be paid, however, depends on several factors including the urgency or desperation expressed by the applicant, the course of study, and the class of degree he’s requesting for.

There are insinuations that most of those that go for these tokumbo degrees are children of ambitious and unserious parents or anxious job seekers who use the fake certificates to compete for jobs or elective offices along with those that laboured to earn genuine degrees. People get attracted to tokumbo degrees because they don’t need to possess five credits required by Nigerian universities. They also don’t need any UTME score or post-UTME screening evidence. But more than these quality assurance standards which desperate degree chasers seek to escape by going for tokumbo degrees is the irony in the actual duration of the undergraduate programmes in Cotonou universities. Audu spent seven weeks instead of the four academic sessions in a Nigerian or other universities around the world.

Some of these so-called fake degreeawarding institutions in Cotonou are universities that operate in one-bungalow apartment with few administrative personnel who often know next to nothing about university system. It’s also ridiculous that the fake Cotonou universities teach Nigerian students in English language; a practice that clearly contravenes the law establishing universities in Benin Republic where French, as obtains in other Francophone countries, is the language of instruction. Yet, the certificates and transcripts issued to Nigerian seekers of the tokumbo degrees are all written in French.

As if Audu’s report woke them up from their slumber, the FME issued a statement temporarily suspending the evaluation and accreditation of degree certificates from the Republic of Benin and Togo. It also announced the banning of 18 foreign universities operating in Nigeria; describing them as “degree mills.’’ In a similar reaction, the National Universities Commission (NUC) sealed 58 illegal study centers operating in the guise of universities. The leaks from Audu’s adventures are shocking, inconceivable, and demoralizing; yet, overwhelmingly irrefutable.

This matter is too damning to be ignored by the federal government. It must be probed and those found guilty as syndicate members or corrupt officials in the accreditation of fake or substandard universities in Cotonou should be prosecuted and sanctioned appropriately. May Allah guide authorities in the FME, the NUC, and the Nigeria Immigration Service to fear Allah and save Nigeria through their official responsibilities from the epidemic of tokumbo degrees, amin.