Academia in Uproar: Top Universities Slam “Fake Professor” Accusations. The management of the University of Ilorin has clarified that there are no fake professors in the employ of the institution.
The management made this clarification in a statement signed by the director of corporate affairs of the University, Kunle Akogun.
The statement reads, “The attention of the management of the University of Ilorin has been drawn to a trending list of 100 fake professors in some universities in the country as purportedly uncovered by the National Universities Commission (NUC).
“Even though the NUC has dissociated itself from the list that first surfaced in December 2019, we deem it expedient to categorically disown the 11 so-called professors listed against the University of Ilorin in the recently exhumed report.
“None of the persons on the list is on our 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.
“This clarification is necessary to assure our esteemed stakeholders that UNILORIN’s well-heeled reputation for high integrity and strict adherence to best global practices in everything we do, especially on issues of staff promotion, remains unsoiled and it can never be compromised.”
It described the report as another matter of fake news by mischief makers.
Also, Covenant University, Ota, Ogun State has denied that four fake professors, among those purportedly discovered by the NUC, are from the university.
This is contained in a statement by the university’s head of the communication unit, Ms ChiChi Ononiwu, issued to newsmen yesterday in Ota.
Reacting to information in some sections of the media that the NUC had uncovered about 100 professors spread across some Nigerian universities, including Covenant University, Ononiwu said the institution had no such names as listed in the said article on the payroll.
“The University Management wishes to set the record straight, as we have no such names as listed in the said article in our pay roll. 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,” she said.
Similarly, Redeemer’s University, Ede, Osun State, has refuted claims of employing any of the purported fake 100 professors listed in a viral social media post.
Adetunji Adeleye, the deputy director of the Corporate Affairs Directorate at the university, clarified in Osogbo on Saturday that the institution completely disavowed and disclaimed the “malicious publication.”
Adeleye said that the individuals labelled fake professors at Redeemer’s University had never been affiliated with the institution in any capacity.
“We wish to notify the public that these ‘professors’ are entirely unfamiliar to us. Anyone engaging with these individuals or groups does so at their own risk,” he cautioned.
He urged the public to be cautious of misinformation and advised verifying facts directly from the National Universities Commission (NUC), the regulatory body overseeing Nigerian universities.
He stated that the publication was false and could not have been issued by the NUC without proper consultation with the accredited universities.
