BUSTED: University of Nigeria Lecturer Wins Prestigious Harvard Fellowship for False Degrees
Nigerian University lecturer, Nsukka, Chidi Ugwu has been embroiled in a scandal after receiving a grant from the prestigious Harvard University in the United States for partially falsified allegations.
The Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Ugwu University, which was recently appointed to the Radcliffe Scholarship at Harvard University, was said to have added claims to its University of Helsinki diploma to its credentials.
From his LinkedIn profile, he also claimed to be a Visiting Lecturer at the University of Melbourne since 2017.
According to her records, she was born on April 14, 1975.
However, investigations into his allegations have revealed that Ugwu had made false allegations because both institutions refused to register such a name.
“Some of Ugwu’s claims justify being appointed a Radcliffe researcher at Harvard University include obtaining a degree from the University of Helsinki in 2013. He also added that he was a Visiting Lecturer at the University of Melbourne in Australia.
“Separate investigations were conducted with both institutions to verify the allegations, but neither found his name in his records,” the source said.
SaharaReporters’ response to Ugwu’s authenticity survey from the University of Helsinki shows that his records were not found in the school’s student information system.
A question from a stakeholder, one from the school registry, Leea Sokura, wrote in the post: “Unfortunately, I can’t find anyone in our student information system whose name and date of birth match this information. It shows that it is unlikely that she would ever have been a student at our university.”
Similarly, a letter from Joseph, an HR assistant at the University of Melbourne, Re: Chidi Ugwu, in response to a survey of Ugwu’s allegation, said, “Unfortunately, I don’t seem to find that person in our registry.”
Sources also said some students claimed that Ugwu extorted significant sums from them in August 2019 and the vice chancellor of the school ordered that the funds should be returned to the students.
However, the directive has not yet been complied with and unhappy students are too scared to speak.
The lecturer was said to have actually graduated from the UNN Department of Sociology and Anthropology in 2006 and a doctorate in 2016 from the same department.
However, according to the institute’s sources, Ugwu is part of a chain of university power mediators that goes directly to the vice chancellor, Professor Charles Igwe, who is entangled in allegations of age forgery.
