The Federal Ministry of Education has rejected claims circulating online that the National Universities Commission (NUC) uncovered about 100 fake professors and identified 2,000 universities in Nigeria.
The ministry described the reports as “recycled misinformation intended to mislead the public and discredit the nation’s university system”.
In a statement released on Saturday by its Director of Press and Public Relations, Boriowo Folasade, the ministry said the NUC had “never declared the existence of 2,000 universities in Nigeria or published, endorsed or authenticated the purported list of individuals circulating online as fake professors”.
It said the Minister of Education, Dr Maruf Tunji Alausa, issued the clarification following the renewed circulation of the allegations.
It explained that the claims about fake professors originated from a media report published on December 3, 2019, about an NUC verification of full professors in Nigerian universities.
It added that the original report did not contain the names currently being circulated, which the Commission has since disowned.
The ministry warned that spreading the claims could damage public confidence in the country’s universities and undermine efforts to improve the education sector.
It advised the public, journalists and social media users to ignore the reports and consult the NUC’s official platforms for verified information on recognised universities and academic standards.
