- We’ve caught one lecturer for certificate forgery, says rector
By Nosa Akenzua, Asaba
Fears have gripped staff of the Federal College of Education (Technical), Asaba, Delta State, following the alleged involvement of a Senior Lecturer, Mr. Fidelis Eliche Azubuike, in certificate forgery, a situation that has now compelled the institution’s authorities to embark on the screening of the credentials of all its other personnel.
Reliable sources disclosed that the lecturer now at the centre of the certificate forgery scandal graduated from the Edo State University, Ekpoma, with a pass degree and was originally employed by the college as an instructor and had been working in the institution before the bubble burst.
Trouble started for Azubuike seven years after he was employed at the college, but was not promoted because of the poor grade of his degree.
To make for his academic deficiency, which had been denying him promotion for years, he allegedly approached a friend of his at the Edo State University, the institution he earlier claimed tohave graduated from, to help him to upgrade his certificate to the second class upper grade.
Azubuike was alleged to have offered the sum of N100, 000 to his friend, a senior staff of the university, who assisted him in upgrading the certificate to a second class upper and he later presented the new certificate to the authorities of the college, which promoted him to the position of a Senior Lecturer 1.
But insider said that instead of his friend to accept the N100, 000 they both allegedly agreed upon, he demanded for additional N200, 000 and threatened to expose him if he failed to pay up.
This was said to have led to a disagreement between the two of and even degenerated to threats and counter-threats to life.
A senior lecturer in the college, who pleaded anonymity, told our correspondent, “His friend, who forged the certificate for him, secretly wrote our rector about the whole deal after Azubuike refused to pay him the extra fee demanded and this was how he was exposed.”
Investigation revealed that allegations of certificate forgery and other fraudulent practices had been rife in the college in the past two years, especially concerning some of the old lecturers who claimed to have bagged their masters’ degrees from institutions abroad.
Confirming the incident, the former rector of the college, Dr. Ignatus Ezeaum, said, “It is true we have caught one of the lecturers with forged certificate. He was employed as instructor because he had a low qualification, and I urged him to go and upgrade, only for him to resurface with a second class upper from the Ambrose Ali University, Ekpoma.
“The man who did it for him wrote to us, and we confronted him. He opened up; we have asked him to take a sack letter, or return to his former position as an instructor.”
But since the news of the alleged certificate forgery broke at the college, there has been panic among the lecturers and even non-academic staff over the decision by the school management to conduct a fresh screening of the academic credentials used by all its staff to secure employment at the institution.
A clerical officer at the college, who did not want her name in print, said, “So many of our staff came with “Toronto” certificates, very bogus certificates they cannot defend; that is why there is trouble now.”
In his response to the allegation of forgery against him, the lecturer popular known as Uncle Eliche, said, “It is unfortunate that I’m now a victim. I have been asked by the school management to resign or step back as an instructor. I was lured into upgrading my certificate and I didn’t know it would backfire. Here I am today. Even though I have entered for a master’s degree programme at the Nnamdi Azikwe University, it is very unfortunate that am now a victim. It is a lesson for others.”
