Nigeria has become the first African country to tackle plagiarism nationwide with the internationally accepted top plagiarism detection software, Turnitin.
The West African country’s 123 universities have completed the agreement to unite in the fight against plagiarism.
The negotiation for the nationwide deployment of the software began in February between the management of Turnitin and Nigerian Committee of Vice Chancellors of Nigerian Universities (CVC), on the nationwide rollout of the technology.
Mike Fabarode, secretary general of CVC, told Daily Trust the vice chancellors decided to deploy the technology to tackle the plagiarism menace which he said had become a major problem and requires swift steps in order to stop it from spreading further.
He said Nigerian universities, according to the terms of the agreement will pay NGN480 million (US$3 million) for the first three years.
He added the staff of various Nigerian universities are undergoing training on the use of the software which he said will become fully operational from May 2013.
According to him, the step was necessitated by the need to preserve the integrity of Nigeria’s education which stands the risk of being destroyed by consistent plagiarism.
In a statement signed by Turnitin’s international vice president, Will Murray, he said Nigeria has become the latest country to join the growing list of countries such as UK, Pakistan, Turkey and several others that are using the software on a national basis.
Murray said: “This move highlights the determination of Nigerian higher education institutions to address the issue of plagiarism and promote academic integrity and authenticity as well as enhance their reputations on an international level.
“We’re delighted to be assisting the CVC in establishing a national model for academic integrity in Nigeria and onsite training has already begun.”
