The Federal Government on Wednesday banned recipients of honorary degrees from prefixing “Dr” to their names in official, academic, or professional usage.
It declared that the use of the title by such recipients constitutes a misrepresentation of academic credentials and will henceforth be treated as academic fraud, attracting legal and reputational consequences.
The Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, disclosed this at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, while briefing State House correspondents on two Federal Executive Council approvals.
Alausa, who appeared alongside the Minister of State for Education, Prof Suwaiba Ahmad, said the FEC approved a uniform policy for the award and use of honorary degrees by Nigerian universities.
He explained that the policy aims to curb the abuse and politicisation of honorary degrees and restore public confidence in academic titles.
“The recent trend we’ve seen with the award of honorary degrees has revealed a growing abuse and politicisation of this academic privilege.
“We’ve seen awards being used for political patronage, for financial gain, as well as the conferral of awards on serving public officials, which, as part of the ethics of honorary degree awards, should not happen,” he said.
Under the new directive, recipients of honorary degrees must no longer use “Dr” before their names. Instead, they are required to include the full honorary designation after their names.
“For instance, you can use Chief Louis Clark, D.Lit. (Doctor of Literature, Honoris Causa) or Mrs Miriam Adamu, LL.D. Hons,” Alausa explained.
He stressed that this format clearly distinguishes honorary awards from earned academic qualifications.
“Recipients shall not prefix doctor to their names in official, academic or professional usage.
“Misrepresentation of honorary degrees as earned academic credentials shall be considered academic fraud and subject to legal and reputational consequences,” he added.
The policy also limits honorary degrees Nigerian universities can award to four categories: Doctor of Laws (LL.D), Doctor of Letters (D.Lit), Doctor of Science (D.Sc), and Doctor of Humanities (D.Arts).
It further prohibits universities without active PhD programmes from awarding honorary degrees.
Alausa said this measure is necessary to address the growing trend of newer institutions conferring honorary titles despite lacking postgraduate research capacity.
He added that all honorary degrees must clearly carry the words “honorary” or “Honoris Causa” on certificates and in official references.
The minister noted that concerns over the commercialisation and misuse of honorary degrees have persisted for years, with institutions often accused of awarding them based on political or financial considerations rather than merit.
He recalled that efforts to regulate the practice, including the Keffi Declaration of 2012 by the Association of Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian Universities, failed due to lack of legal backing.
“That is why we brought this to the Federal Executive Council, which now gives it legal and executive backing,” he said.
Alausa added that the Federal Ministry of Education and the National Universities Commission will issue guidelines to universities and monitor compliance.
He said convocation ceremonies will be closely observed, while an annual list of legitimate honorary degree recipients will be published to safeguard the integrity of academic qualifications.
