A Professor of Forensic Accounting and Auditing at the University of Jos, Professor Yohanna Gyang Jugu, has identified fraud and fraudulent practices as major contributors to Nigeria’s underdevelopment, urging government and educational institutions to strengthen forensic accounting training, particularly at the undergraduate level.
Professor Jugu made the call on Tuesday, February 3, 2026, while delivering the University of Jos 114th Inaugural Lecture titled “Unmasking Fraud and Fraudulent Practices: The Evolving Role of Forensic Accounting and Auditing in a Complex World,” held at the Aliyu Akwe Doma Indoor Theatre, Faculty of Arts, Naraguta Campus.
He noted that fraud has had far-reaching negative effects on Nigeria, including poor infrastructure, capital flight and declining public trust in government and institutions.
“Fraud has contributed a lot negatively. We have underdevelopment, poor infrastructure, capital flight and lack of trust in the system. People do not trust government largely because of corruption and other vices,” he said.
The professor stressed that government must take deliberate steps to combat fraud by investing in the training of forensic accountants and encouraging universities to introduce forensic accounting at the undergraduate level. He noted that countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom already run full undergraduate programmes in the discipline.
According to him, while some Nigerian universities offer forensic accounting at the master’s level, the absence of undergraduate programmes limits the country’s capacity to effectively prevent, detect and investigate financial crimes.
Explaining the theme of his lecture, Professor Jugu said “unmasking fraud” involves exposing all forms of fraud in society, including practices many people engage in without realising they constitute fraud. He described fraud as intentional deception or misrepresentation aimed at securing unfair or unlawful gain, distinguishing it from errors, which he said are unintentional.
He outlined common forms of fraud to include financial statement fraud, asset misappropriation, corruption and bribery, procurement and contract fraud, cyber and electronic fraud, as well as money laundering and illicit financial flows.
Professor Jugu warned that fraud has evolved from manual falsification of records to sophisticated digital manipulation and cyber-enabled crimes such as phishing, malware and social engineering. He added that fraud has now assumed complex transnational dimensions that require advanced analytics, international cooperation and continuous innovation to combat.
He also identified weak internal controls, poor corporate governance, policy implementation failures and lack of supervision as factors that create opportunities for fraud, particularly in the public sector.
Emphasising the role of leadership, he said leaders must set the right tone by upholding integrity and ethical standards. “Leaders are supposed to set the tune from the top. If leaders are corrupt, citizens will do worse. Integrity must be the watchword of those in leadership positions,” he said.
The professor called for strengthened governance frameworks, robust internal controls, institutional integrity and ethical leadership, describing forensic accounting and auditing as indispensable tools for transparency, accountability and sustainable development.
In his remarks, the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Jos, Professor Tanko Ishaya, represented by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Administration), Professor Charles P. Onoche, commended the lecture, describing it as a timely and intellectual exposition of Nigeria’s fraud problem and the solutions required.
Professor Onoche noted that universities remain critical spaces for generating ideas and solutions to national challenges, adding that the lecture further demonstrated that forensic auditing is a viable path toward addressing fraud in Nigeria. He disclosed that the university has lined up more inaugural lectures in the coming weeks to harvest research-based recommendations that can help chart a new course for national development.
The lecture ended with a call on academics, professional bodies, policymakers, students and the general public to embrace forensic accounting and auditing as instruments of justice, integrity and national advancement.
