Legal experts have started talking about the scandal of diplomas and degrees from universities in Benin.

 At the beginning of this week, the DailyNigerian newspaper published the story of its staff who did a thorough investigation into the scandal.

 In an immediate response, the Nigerian government has suspended acceptance of all undergraduate degree programs and diplomas from the countries of Benin and Togo.

Money for certificate is 14 years imprisonment in Nigeria 

 This issue continues to attract the attention of Nigerians inside and outside the country, where they are calling the government to conduct a deeper investigation to uncover the source of the scandal.

 The ICPC, which fights against corruption in Nigeria, has already said that it has started an investigation into the scandal.

 Many experts such as Barrister Bulama Bukarti believe that the investigation should include many government agencies.

 However, he said that there is a need to identify those who have legitimate degrees as opposed to fake ones.

 Regarding the punishment that is applicable to those people with illegitimate degrees, Barrister Bukarti said there are provisions in the Nigerian constitution.

 "Nigerian law provides 14 years imprisonment for anyone who submits a fake certificate or qualification, and there is a provision for two years imprisonment for anyone who submits such evidence to the National Youth Service Commission."  Bukarti said.

 Dr Aliyu Tilde, an expert in the field of Education, said that the decision taken by the Nigerian government on the issue is correct, but it is worth noting that not all degrees obtained from countries like Benin, Togo, Kenya or Uganda are fake.

 He said "they have some good and quality universities that are even better than some universities in Nigeria, and sometimes its even difficult for Nigerian to join them even if he's willing to do so."

 Dr. Tilde continued, "The factors that make Nigerian students go abroad to study include the decline in the quality of Nigerian universities, the number of strikes, the issue of Jamb entrance exam, and good morale that are enforced especially for ladies,"  these are the main reasons.

 He added that the Nigerian government should do a proper research and evaluation of the existing universities in the country.

 "When we came to power in 2019, in Bauchi state we got more than 50 colleges of education, when we sat down and assess them, we found that only 10 are of good quality.

 "Therefore, the state government ordered to close them, and that has been done, this type of action should be taken by the Nigerian government."

 Some people think there is negligence on the part of government for the existence of such universities or colleges of education.

 And Tilde said that it is known that these schools are occupied by the government officials, so now is not the time to get angry, let's focus on dealing with the problem and how to solve it and avoid this happening in future.

 At the end, he said, what is left is for the people who have obtained such a degree to know how to handover themselves to the government to face appropriate sanction.

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