The Federal Government has barred recipients of honorary degrees from using the “Dr” title, warning that any misuse will now be treated as academic fraud.
The Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, announced the directive on Wednesday at the Presidential Villa in Abuja following the approval of the Federal Executive Council.
According to him, the decision was taken to address the growing abuse and politicisation of honorary degrees in Nigeria, which he said had increasingly undermined the credibility of 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 should not happen,” he added.
Under the new policy, individuals who receive honorary degrees are prohibited from using the “Dr” prefix in official, academic, or professional settings. Instead, they are required to state clearly that the title is honorary.
“Recipients shall not prefix doctor to their names in official, academic or professional usage,” the minister stated, adding that “misrepresentation of honorary degrees as earned academic credentials shall be considered academic fraud and subject to legal and reputational consequences.”
The policy further restricts Nigerian universities to awarding only four categories of honorary degrees: Doctor of Laws (LL.D), Doctor of Letters (D.Lit), Doctor of Science (D.Sc), and Doctor of Humanities (D.Arts).
Alausa also disclosed that universities without active PhD programmes will no longer be permitted to confer honorary degrees, as part of efforts to curb the proliferation of awards by less established institutions.
He explained that all honorary degrees must now clearly indicate their status as “honorary” or “Honoris Causa,” while the Ministry of Education and the National Universities Commission (NUC) will enforce compliance and monitor convocation ceremonies.
The Federal Government also revealed that plans to publish an annual list of legitimate honorary degree recipients to promote transparency and protect the integrity of academic qualifications in the country is underway.