The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) has banned graduates from eight universities in Benin Republic, Niger, and Cameroon from participating in the 2021 Batch A orientation course. Most of the universities are alleged to have been awarding degrees a few months after matriculation to students, and are tagged “Cotonou Universities''.

This was contained in a circular dated March 5, and addressed to state and federal capital territory coordinators.

The affected institutions include Al-Nahda International University (Niger Republic); Ecole Superieur Sainte Felicite (Benin Republic); Ecole Superieur D Administration et DEconomics (Benin Republic); Ecole Superieur DEnseignement Professionelle Le Berger – ESEP Le Berger (Benin Republic); and Ecole Superieur St. Louis DAfrique (Benin Republic).

Others are Institute Superieur de Comm. Dord Et De Management – ISFOP (Benin Republic) and the International University, Bamenda (Cameroon).

According to the NYSC director-general, Shuaib Ibrahim, universities in Benin Republic have been presenting unqualified candidates for the one-year mandatory national service, some of which were returned by their employers to NYSC on the grounds that they were not qualified to teach, or some of them could not read and write.

He also said that the scheme had recently arrested several fake corps members in the last orientation, and handed them over to the police for prosecution.