President Bola Tinubu’s administration, through Education Minister Tahir Mamman, has denounced individuals with counterfeit certificates from certain African countries, labelling them as thieves and “danger” to Nigeria.

In an interview with Channels TV on Sunday, Mr Mamman expressed concerns that Nigerians with genuine certificates “compete in the market with individuals who probably didn’t leave Nigeria.”

“To me, these are thieves; these are danger to our country because someone is showcasing a qualification certificate for which he has no knowledge about. So, he comes into the country, got employed probably into the civil service. Some even get into medical-related programmes in hospitals and be working there. How is he going to dispense there other than to kill people?” said the minister.

Mr Mamman elaborated on the government’s decision to dismiss public and private employees who had secured jobs using fraudulently acquired certificates from the Benin Republic, Togo, and other African countries.

“Even the countries where they got the certificate from do not recognise the institution as degree awarding institutions. So why should we here recognise them?” Mr Mamman said.

The education minister criticised certificate forgers parading first class in disciplines they know nothing about as thieves because they compete for job opportunities with Nigerian graduates who, by merit, earned their certificates from certified institutions.

“They get their certificate through racketeering. They pay some money to agents who finish the paperwork with the immigration, and then they have a certificate. Usually, such people will have first-class, high-grade certifications,” said Mr Mamman.

A recent clampdown on certificate forgers comes after an investigation by Daily Nigerian, exposing how Nigerians purchase and parade fake certificates from Benin Republic University.

Efforts to combat the menace of fake certificates by Mr Tinubu’s government have come despite lingering controversies on the president’s Chicago State University certificate.

Though the Supreme Court rejected fresh evidence on Mr Tinubu’s certificate forgery scandal to affirm his electoral victory, the issue has continued to elicit reactions from Nigerians.