A source, who does not want to be quoted, told this newspaper that former NUC ES, Abubakar Rasheed, only spoke in 2019 about hundreds of Nigerians parading honourary professorships, among others, without mentioning names.
The National Universities Commission (NUC), the regulatory body for universities in the country, has described as ill-motivated and unfortunate the wide circulation of a report listing more than 100 yet-to-be unidentified individuals as fake professors and linking them to various universities.
The Acting Executive Secretary of the commission, Chris Maiyaki, in a telephone interview with PREMIUM TIMES on Sunday, said the agency never blacklisted any academic as fake professors at any time in the past.
Mr Maiyaki said the agency would soon issue a rebuttal on the development, even as he called on Nigerians to beware of fake news.
"There was no time NUC listed anyone in Nigeria as fake professors, and, unfortunately, someone would go and dig up a report of 2019 five years after it had been clarified," he said.
"In the next couple of hours, we will make public our rebuttal."
The commission's Director of Press, Haruna Lawal, also corroborated Mr Maiyaki in a separate interview on Sunday.
PREMIUM TIMES' findings, however, revealed that the immediate past Executive Secretary of the commission, Abubakar Rasheed, had in 2019 during NUC's annual retreat for university vice-chancellors, announced that some academics who were not full professors had been listed as professors in its compendium.
A source, who does not want to be quoted, told this newspaper that Mr Rasheed, a professor, was referring to some Nigerians who claimed to have received honourary professorships, and those in the category of 'readers' who were listed as full professors in the compendium.
"The truth was that no single person was named neither by the ES nor in the bulletin published by NUC at the time. So where these people saw the names listed is what is strange to me. It is a concoction and an act of mischief," the source explained.
Backstory
Following the recent report by Daily Nigerian Newspapers exposing the corruption in the award of degree certificates in Benin Republic and evaluation of the same by the Nigerian government, the report of fake professors in Nigerian universities has again been recirculated across social media platforms.
One of the reports that have been circulated widely on social media is by Channels Television, but the report by the television station attached no list as the one being circulated.
Various other media platforms such as Galaxy Television reported the development at the time but without giving specifics of any individual.
Another source contacted by PREMIUM TIMES who was privy to the development at the time revealed that the report had attracted interest from the State Security Service (SSS) and that the NUC executive secretary was invited to explain the situation.
"Professor Rasheed was then quick to explain what he meant and everything was resolved at the time. The problem with the Nigerian media is that there is no sense of following up on reports. Once a headline is picked, they jump on the next one without logically concluding what they earlier reported," another source who does not want to be quoted said.
Universities react
The latest development has forced some of the institutions listed in the viral report to quickly react by debunking the list, and declaring it as fake and unfounded.
The University of Lagos on Saturday issued a statement denying the five names on the list linked to it.
A statement signed by the university's Head of the Communication Unit, Adejoke Alaga-Ibraheem, described the report as unsubstantiated and urged the public to disregard it.
"The attention of the University of Lagos (UNILAG) Management has been drawn to an unsubstantiated report on social media, claiming that the NUC has uncovered fake professors in some Nigerian universities, including ours.
"For the avoidance of doubt, the university management hereby explicitly refutes the five names listed as 'fake' professors of the university."
Mrs Alaga-Ibraheem urged the members of the university community and the general public to "completely disregard the report as the persons listed are not our staff and have never worked at any point in time and any capacity, at the university."
UNILORIN, CU also react
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) also reports that the management of the University of Ilorin on Sunday dismissed the claims that 11 fake professors were uncovered in the institution.
This was contained in a statement signed by the spokesperson of the university, Kunle Akogun, saying; "We don't have fake professors and they do not exist in our university."
Mr Akogun added: "The National Universities Commission had categorically dismissed the information as fallacious fabrication of mischief makers. The Commission has dissociated itself from the list that first surfaced in December 2019.
"We deem it expedient to categorically disassociate our institution from the story of the 11 fake professors listed against our university."
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According to him, none of the persons on the list is on the university's nominal roll, nor had any of them ever had any dealing with the University of Ilorin at any time or in any guise.
He explained that the clarification was necessary to assure esteemed stakeholders that UNILORIN had built an age-long reputation for high standards, integrity, and strict adherence to best global practices.
Similarly, NAN also reported that Covenant University, Ota, Ogun State, denied that four "fake professors," among those purportedly discovered by the National Universities Commission (NUC), are from the university.
This was contained in a statement by the University's Head of the Communication Unit, Ms ChiChi Ononiwu, issued to newsmen on Sunday in Ota.The statement read in part: "The attention of the university management was drawn to a purported publication by the National Universities Commission [NUC] titled - "About 100 Fake Professors Uncovered In Nigerian Universities."
"The publication listed four such Professors at Covenant University.
"The University Management wishes to set the record straight, as we have no such names as listed in the said article in our payroll.
"Also, Covenant had never interacted with any of the four persons at any time, and in any capacity as the university would not appoint unqualified persons as professors."
