On the 30th of December 2023, an online news media published a damning report from its reporter, who went undercover to investigate successfully how “degrees” (and result transcripts) could be obtained, in six weeks or less, from a foreign “university” without stepping on that country’s soil! We mean without receiving any lecture, on-site or otherwise! Without taking any examination in whatever form! Without knowing where the “university” is located (in the Benin Republic, to be specific)! This story elicited a series of reactions, but for us, it was, and still is, not a surprising one! What appeared big to us was that the said reporter (Umar Shehu Audu), with support, was able to pull the undercover investigation through as against the speculative reporting that we are mostly familiar with in Nigeria. We congratulate this reporter for this feat! There are other investigative journalists in Nigeria; we believe that with support and an enabling environment, they can also perform excellently. It may be intrusive and/or disrespectful for those who do not know much about a profession to be teaching professionals in such a line of work how to do their job. Professions are supposed to have ethics that guide them. However, for those who do not like to conform to ethics, such as those involved in unnecessarily speculative and brown envelope journalism, we advise that they should talk to themselves; although this last point is important, it is not the main focus here. The focus of this article is mainly on the “degree” obtained by the reporter from the foreign “university.”. As earlier stated, we are not moved by this discovery! It is not a “big deal” to us! The reader may ask why we took this position. This is simply because it is not really a “new” discovery. There had been silent rumours of the existence of such higher educational institutions (not only in Africa but also in those places referred to as developed countries) that are reputed for issuing (selling) questionable certificates to willing buyers through their local and international agents who, collectively, are racketeering syndicates! These claims were, at best, unverifiable gossips until the above-mentioned reporter went undercover to provide the public with undeniable facts; the types of facts that rattle the shrewdest roguish public officials and civil servants who collaborate with criminal racketeers! Or, what do we call those aiding and abetting the buying and selling of academic and professional certificates? It will be very difficult to convince us that those racketeering syndicates do not have supports in high places in Nigeria! This exposé has contributed in exposing the dirty underbelly of Nigerian society. Again, like others, it confirmed that no unscrupulousness is beyond some people. These crooks may be few in number but their activities help in reverberating negativity about the country. With thorough investigations, it is not unlikely that those behind the certificate scam are predominantly Nigerians! Yes, some Nigerians are soiling Nigeria’s name! These reprehensible activities start in bits and pieces. They may have their legal implications but we are more concerned, here, with morals. We cannot help it but to moralise! The moral values in this country are unbelievably increasingly becoming what to be ashamed of! Immorality is now displayed openly! If you are not involved in the madness, it means you are a “mugu”! That means you are not smart! We must tell ourselves the naked truth that, morally, Nigeria has sunk very deep! The people in government are involved, but the followers are not exempt. In fact, they are seriously complicit in the rot! For instance, is it news that some schoolchildren, wards, and their parents or guardians engage in all sorts of cheating, even at the level of nursery or primary schools? Is it news that parents and guardians, in collaboration with their children and wards, ‘arrange’ for leaked questions and “miracle centres” in order to pass examinations? Can these students defend the certificates they submitted for admission into higher educational institutions? Can they defend the certificates they subsequently obtained, through crooked means, from higher educational institutions? Truly, the cowl does not make the monk! This desperation for unmerited paper qualifications by some people can be terrifying! The mentioned and unmentioned illicitness in all sectors has drastically reduced Nigeria’s integrity, such that law-abiding, hard-working compatriots are now victimised. These dubious certificates are also contributing factors in complicating this integrity problem.