By Mohamed Jaward Nyallay
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) of Sierra Leone has revealed that an academic under investigation on suspected fraud worked at the University of Makeni (UNIMAK) before joining Njala University.
‘Professor Emmanuel Ajayi Femi Gbenga, who was arrested last week, is under investigation for using fake degrees to apply for job in a public institution. The Nigerian academic was arrested on a tip off from Njala University officials, the ACC said.
According to the anti-graft agency, Mr Gbenga has since been released on bailed to officials of the Nigerian High Commission, whiles the investigation continues.
The development has raised questions on the process of recruiting academic staff by tertiary institutions in Sierra Leone.
Gbengan was the Head of Department of Law at Njala when he was detained. A source within the Njala University administration said that he worked for there for a period of 18 months.
When Politico contacted Njala University, the Public Relations Officer, Hindolo Kurabu, declined to comment, saying the university was not making any statement on the issue since it’s a subject of investigation.
The anonymous source said the university had been investigating Ajayi long before his arrest.
Abubakar Turay, Head of Outreach at ACC, also confirmed this to Politico.
“The arrest was based on a tip off we got from Njala University authorities who told us about this man. They had suspicion that this man had fake qualifications, so they had to call us,” Turay said.
At UNIMAK, Gbenga worked as a lecturer and mentor to other lecturers within the Law Department. He spent three months in the university in these capacities.
A copy of his Curriculum Vitae sent to Politico by the Makeni-based university show that his qualification includes Bachelor of Science, Master’s in Business Administration, Master’s in International Law and other professional qualifications in Maritime, Trade and ICT. It also showed that he served as associate professor in countries like The Gambia, Nigeria, Zambia, Kenya and India.
Prior to hiring him, UNIMAK officials said the University had been considering offering a Master’s Program in Law and, apparently, they saw him as an asset in that effort.
Fr. Dr Joseph Turay, Vice Chancellor of UNIMAK, told Politico that they did due diligence in recruiting him.
“We did a rigorous check on his background. His documents looked authentic. I was more convinced by his publications. He had six or seven publications to his credit,” Fr. Turay said on telephone interview from Magburaka where he was attending a meeting.
He added: “He had a hand manual on marine law. He had a manual on contract law and so many other publications that students were using.”
The Ministry of Tertiary Education is yet to make any public statement on the matter. But a spokesman told Politico that the ministry is not commenting on the specifics of the case but would rather focus on a broader issue regarding academic qualifications in tertiary institutions.
“The minister and the ministry have been engaging the tertiary institutions across the country. So, this issue featured prominently. Because if you are talking about quality education that is where it starts, the quality of the lecturers, the professors, the quality of the administrators that are going to pass on information to the students,” said Abdul Fonti Kabia, Media Coordinator for the ministry attached to the Strategic Communication Unit at State House.
Whiles the investigation continues, ACC said it will encourage other academic institutions to inform them if they have such cases.
“Our work is intelligence led. We are sending a message to other academic institutions, if they have any suspicion that they have any such people in their institutions, let them report to us. For us this is an integrity issue,” said Turay.
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