The Taraba State Commissioner for Youth and Sports Development, Joseph Joshua, has been accused of acquiring a counterfeit degree from a university in Benin Republic. The accusation surfaced in a petition addressed to the State Security Service (SSS) and shared with the state police command.
The petition, dated 15 January, was filed by Nasiru Muhammed, a legal practitioner based in Jalingo, acting on behalf of Sulaiman Adamu, a social activist residing in the state capital.
[blockquote align=”left” author=”Penci Design” style=”font-size: 30px”]To take a trivial example, which of us ever undertakes laborious physical exercise, except to obtain some advantage from it?[/blockquote]
According to the petition, during Joseph Joshua’s screening as a Commissioner Nominee at the Taraba State House of Assembly, he purportedly presented a Bachelor of Science (BSc) degree in Information Technology with Second Class (Upper Division) from ESGT University, Benin Republic (Cotonou), as his highest qualification earned in 2021. However, it was noted that he failed to submit his mandatory National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) discharge certificate or exemption letter along with his documents.
The petition raised doubts about the authenticity of Joshua’s degree certificate, prompting a call for a thorough investigation to cleanse the system. It alleged that there was no evidence of Joshua ever traveling to Benin Republic for studies, suggesting that his claimed educational background might be fabricated.
Joseph Joshua declined to comment on the allegations when approached by the reporter, stating, “I have no comment. Let the security do their job.”
Meanwhile, the Minister of Education, Tahir Mamman, established an inter-ministerial committee to probe foreign universities accused of issuing fake degrees to Nigerians. This move followed an expose by an undercover journalist who claimed to have obtained a degree within six weeks from a university in Benin Republic and subsequently received NYSC mobilization for national service.
The investigative panel was tasked with examining allegations of degree certificate fraud in both foreign and private universities across Nigeria.
