The Cotonou university investigative story did not only indict the Beninese university that issued the certificate, it also exposed their Nigerians collaborators. “The racketeering agents in Nigeria,” the report said, “work hand-in-hand with the top management of the university campus in Cotonou, whose registrar and English section coordinator are Nigerians”.

The report also, through the NYSC systems, showed how obsolete the computer systems in Nigeria’s public institutions have remained, despite billions of naira allocated annually in budgets to Ministries, Departments and Agencies, MDAs, for information communication technology.

Like the empty assurances the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, gave to Nigerians during the 2023 general elections, an NYSC staff had boasted about the efficiency of their integrated ICT system in using the fingerprint technology to catch those who attempt to enrol again after participating in the scheme.

It turned out that the NYSC, like most MDAs in Nigeria, lacked the digital capability to detect that the participant under cover had participated in the scheme before, even with biometric data which should have exposed him in a functioning system.

But Nigeria has been deliberately programmed by her corrupt leaders to hide such frauds. Even when the frauds come to light by accident, they are always swept under the carpet, especially when they involve a rich man or a well-connected politician.

There are two categories of Nigerians who buy or forge certificates. In one category are people who are naturally intelligent but lack the time or discipline to pass through the rigours required for obtaining a genuine or merit-based certificate; so they opt to buy or forge the certificate. The people in this category are very difficult to spot out, because they speak well or perform their jobs fairly well. For that reason, people hardly suspect them of certificate fraud.

In the second category are those who lack both the native wisdom and the ability to pass through any higher academic programme required for awarding a higher degree, and still, they go ahead to buy or forge the certificate. Those in this category are very easy to identify. They make you wonder, after interacting with them, how they got the certificates.

People with forged certificates exist in almost all organisations in Nigeria, whether private or public. It is one of the pieces of evidence that show how low our values have depreciated as a country.

We must begin to teach ourselves again what a certificate means: A written testimony from an issuing authority, stating that the holder had been taught a skill, and that he or she has learned the skill.

If we imbibe such a healthy and realistic understanding of what a certificate stands for, becoming proficient in the profession for which the certificate is issued will become our focus, and not the certificate itself. Of what use is a certificate without the corresponding skill and knowledge?

It is a sad commentary on our country that those in authority to whom we look up to sanitise the system and rid it of forged or bought certificates, are also neck-deep in the crime. Nevertheless, if men and women of integrity still remain in Nigeria, they should pick up the gauntlet, wherever they may be, and fight this evil called certificate forgery before it destroys all of us.