By Emma Ombugadu, Abuja
The Federal Government has prohibited recipients of honorary degrees from prefixing “Dr” to their names in any official, academic, or professional context, declaring the practice a misrepresentation of credentials that will now be treated as academic fraud.
Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, announced the directive on Wednesday at the Presidential Villa in Abuja while briefing journalists on decisions approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) at its April 30 meeting.
Alausa, who appeared alongside Minister of State for Education, Suwaiba Ahmad, said the council had endorsed a uniform national policy regulating the award and usage of honorary degrees by Nigerian universities.
He explained that the reform aims to curb longstanding abuses, including the politicisation and commercialisation of honorary awards, and to restore credibility to 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,” Alausa said. “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.”
Under the new policy, honorary degree recipients must no longer adopt the “Dr” title. Instead, they are required to indicate the distinction after their names using its full designation. For example, “Chief Louis Clark, D.Lit. (Honoris Causa)” or “Mrs Miriam Adamu, LL.D. (Hons).”
According to the minister, this format ensures clarity by distinguishing honorary recognitions 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 said.
The policy also narrows the categories of honorary degrees that Nigerian universities can award to four: Doctor of Laws (LL.D), Doctor of Letters (D.Lit), Doctor of Science (D.Sc), and Doctor of Humanities (D.Arts).
In addition, universities without active PhD programmes have been barred from conferring honorary degrees. Alausa said the restriction is intended to check the growing trend of relatively new institutions—some less than five years old—issuing honorary doctorates despite lacking postgraduate research capacity.
He further directed that all honorary certificates must clearly state “honorary” or “Honoris Causa,” both on the document and in all formal references.
The minister acknowledged that concerns over the misuse of honorary degrees have persisted for years within Nigeria’s academic community, with accusations that such awards are often granted to wealthy donors and public officials in exchange for patronage rather than merit.
He referenced the 2012 Keffi Declaration by the Association of Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian Universities, which sought to set standards for honorary awards but lacked the legal authority to enforce compliance.
“The association doesn’t have any legal backing to enforce anything. That is why we brought this to the Federal Executive Council, which now gives it legal and executive backing,” Alausa said.
He added that the Federal Ministry of Education, in collaboration with the National Universities Commission, will issue guidelines to all universities and monitor compliance, including during convocation ceremonies.
The government also plans to work with the media to discourage improper use of academic titles and will publish an annual list of verified honorary degree recipients to safeguard the integrity of earned qualifications.
