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, which will henceforth be treated as academic fraud, with attendant legal and reputational consequences.
The Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, disclosed this on Wednesday at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, while briefing State House correspondents on two Federal Executive Council approvals that had not been announced at the last cabinet meeting, which held on April 30.
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.
The policy, he explained, is designed to end what he described as decades of indiscriminate conferral of degrees for political patronage and financial gain, and to restore public confidence in the integrity of academic titles.
The minister said recent developments in the award of honorary degrees have exposed widespread abuse and increasing politicisation of what should be a prestigious academic recognition.
He noted that such honours have been used for political patronage and financial benefits, including being conferred on serving public officials, a practice he said contradicts established ethical standards guiding honorary awards.
Under the new directive, recipients of honorary degrees are no longer permitted to prefix “Dr” to their names.
Instead, they are required to indicate the honorary nature of the award by placing the full designation after their names.
The minister gave examples of acceptable formats, including the use of titles such as “Chief Louis Clark, D.Lit. (Doctor of Literature, Honoris Causa)” and “Mrs Miriam Adamu, LL.D. Hons.”
He explained that the format is intended to clearly distinguish honorary awards from earned academic qualifications.
Alausa added that presenting honorary degrees as earned academic credentials will now be classified as academic fraud, with possible legal and reputational consequences.
The policy also limits the categories of honorary degrees that Nigerian universities can confer to four specific types: Doctor of Laws (LL.D), Doctor of Letters (D.Lit), Doctor of Science (D.Sc), and Doctor of Humanities (D.Arts).
It further stipulates that only universities with active PhD programmes are eligible to confer honorary degrees.
The minister said the measure is aimed at curbing the rising trend of relatively new institutions awarding honorary doctorates without established postgraduate research structures.
He added that all honorary awards must clearly include the designation “honorary” or “Honoris Causa” on certificates and in all official references.