• Degree available for N2 to N3 million
A sting operation has exposed a university in the commercial city of Lagos that charges from two to three million naira for a degree in the institution.
Interested persons are only required to pay the money and present an O-level certificate; and in two to three weeks, they can count themselves as ‘graduates’.
Remarkably, their details and results make it to the school server alongside those of genuine graduates who burnt the candle at both ends to earn theirs.
The founders of the university must be turning in their graves knowing that not only is certificate racketeering thriving in the school, but that some staff members were caught and mysteriously allowed to stay on as if nothing happened.
According to Sahara Reporters, some members of the degree-awarding syndicate have since been promoted and in a few cases risen to become professors in the school.
The outlet added that the sting operation which was highly detailed and included the use of body cameras and other gadgets started in 2020 and culminated in the arrest and grilling of a few members of staff who made
confessional statements.
“Once they have their client, the only things they will ask from the client are money and their O-level certificate. They check the number of credits you have. That will determine the course they will recommend. As professionals, they know the course you should do or the degree you should go for once you have this or that. Once that is settled, they have members of the syndicate in the ICT department of the school who will input the person’s date into the server. They collect the money and input all your scores, and after, it will be posted on the server of the university, the report stated
“Once you go to the school’s server with the matric number generated for you, you get the name and details of the student there as an authentic student”.
Meanwhile, no fewer than 104 people had been issued ‘genuine’ degree certificates by the syndicate at the time, as revealed by the operations.
It was gathered that investigation in the matter is ongoing.