The Federal Ministry of Education has dismissed viral claims that the National Universities Commission (NUC) identified 2,000 universities in Nigeria and uncovered about 100 fake professors. The ministry described the reports as recycled misinformation that could undermine public confidence in the country’s university system.
In a statement, the Minister of Education, Dr Maruf Tunji Alausa, said the NUC had never put the number of universities in Nigeria at 2,000. He added that the commission had neither published nor endorsed the list circulating on social media that labels some individuals as fake professors.
The ministry traced the claim about fake professors to a media report published on December 3, 2019, about an NUC exercise to verify its directory of full professors in Nigerian universities. It said the original report did not contain the names now circulating online and that the commission had disowned the list.
The ministry urged the public, media organisations and social media users to verify information about recognised universities and academic standards through the NUC’s official channels before sharing it.
It also reaffirmed its support for the commission’s work to uphold academic integrity and strengthen quality assurance in Nigerian universities.
