Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu has been urged to lift the prohibition on Ecole Superieure Management University certificates from the Benin Republic by some affected persons.
With over 600 students affected, Fighting back tears, the parents and students expressed their amazement after learning of the Federal Government’s decision about the ESM University in the Benin Republic.
The undergraduates claimed that being taken out of school at a time when they were already improving and after their donor had made significant educational investments amounted to endangering their future.
Speaking to reporters, Mrs. Josephine Hycienth, a visually impaired widow and parent of the troubled students, expressed her relief that her son was able to attend Benin Republic University on scholarship and lamented the difficulties she had been going through since her husband’s death.
She stated, “Nobody cares about us since after my husband’s death. I want President Bola Tinubu to come to our aid. They should not cancel their education.
“If my son is allowed to come back home, nobody will assist in his education, I need the president to help.”
Moses Nicodemus, a 200-level computer science student at the institution, expressed shock at the development. “I returned to Nigeria for my Industrial Training only to hear that my school is not accredited.”
He added, “That is why we are calling on our President to come to our aid. Our father (the cleric) has spent millions of naira on our education. We need help. We have tried to study to come out with good grades and certificates.”
Chinyere revealed that he checked the legitimacy of ESM University at the Federal Ministry of Education, Abuja, before sending the pupils there, and he got a satisfactory response.
He beseeched Senator Oluremi Tinubu, the wife of the President, to persuade her husband to take into account the risks involved in abruptly terminating the pupils’ education, while also expressing dismay at the development and turn of events.
Chinyere said that he has made significant investments in the academic growth of the pupils, stressing that the money used for them came from tithes and church contributions, which he said he has promised to utilise to support capacity building and outreach to the needy.
He said, “Before I started this scholarship, I went to the Ministry of Education, Abuja, to verify if ESM is accredited. Also to verify if the graduates of the school will be able to participate in NYSC in Nigeria. And all these were confirmed positive before I paid the first school fees. That guarantee I got from the education ministry in Nigeria made me send students on scholarships to the school in Benin Republic.
“Yes, I have many students on scholarships in Nigeria; why send students to Benin and other countries for studies? The issue is that the system (government) made education very strenuous for students, and the government policies made education very difficult. Every day, people come to my house for scholarships: less-privileged, widows, orphans etc. I have more than 4,000 students currently on scholarships right now. I am not talking about the people that have graduated.
Prof. Tahir Mamman, the Minister of Education, said last week that more than 22,500 Nigerians are flaunting phoney diplomas that they received from Togo and the Benin Republic between 2019 and 2023.
According to him, more than 21,600 students in the Benin Republic received their diplomas from unaccredited colleges within the allotted time, while roughly 1,105 students received theirs from certain unaccredited universities in Togo.
