An official of the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria, FRCN, has revealed that the former director general of the outfit, Barrister Yusuf Nuhu employed staffs holding forged certificates during the recent recruitment exercise held in December 2012.
According to him, “Using fake or forged certificates to gain employment has become the norm in the FRCN because some of the staffs employed in the recent past in Kano State for Pyramid Radio Fm and Companion Fm in Katsina did not present genuine certificates.”
Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official who is a staff of FRCN Kaduna revealed that “Staffs posted to these stations in Kano and Katsina brought certificates from universities that nobody recognizes.”
The official further claimed that similar cases have occurred in the FRCN station in Kano because one of the newly engaged staffs had not even attended any university, but submitted a certificate from an institution but our investigations revealed that the certificate was given her at Sabon Gari, Kano by a ‘consultant’ who is a specialist in the provision of fake certificates.
“Even recently we discovered that a marketing officer at the Kano FM station who once worked with us used a certificate from Ado Bayero University, Kano where he claimed to have graduated.”
According to him, “There is the serious need for the federal government’s intervention into the employment procedures at the radio stations because the management of those stations are employing people without verifying the genuineness of their certificates”.
The source further added that “Many staffs with fake certificates were employed on grade level 08 but we all knew the credentials they presented are complete forgeries and we are hoping that investigations into this issue will commence soon so as weed out those with fake certificates.”
Left with no alternative to end this corrupt practice than to go public, the staff appealed to President Goodluck Jonathan to immediately set up a commission to delve into the issue and fish out those wielding fake and forged certificates and ensure that only those with genuine certificates are employed by the FRCN.
Attempts to contact the Director General Nuhu proved abortive while officials of the FRCN zonal office in Kaduna also remained tight lipped though an unofficial source told us that “The issue of certificate forgery is seriously worrying the genuine staffs,” but will say nothing further.