The Federal Government (FG) has announced a ban on the use of the prefix “Dr” by recipients of honorary degrees in official, academic, or professional settings.
Speaking at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on Wednesday, the Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, flanked by the Minister of State for Education, Prof. Suwaiba Ahmad, said the Federal Executive Council (FEC) had approved a uniform policy to regulate the award and use of honorary degrees in Nigerian universities.
He warned that misrepresenting honorary titles as earned academic credentials would henceforth be treated as academic fraud, with legal and reputational consequences.
“The recent trend we’ve seen with the award of honorary degrees has revealed a growing abuse and politicisation of this academic privilege,” Alausa explained.
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He noted that awards had been used for political patronage and financial gain, and stressed that serving public officials should not be conferred with such honours.
Under the new policy, recipients must cite the full honorary designation after their names rather than prefixing “Dr.” For example, Alausa said, “You can use Chief Louis Clark, D.Lit. (Doctor of Literature, Honoris Causa)” or “Mrs Miriam Adamu, LL.D Hons.”
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He added that all honorary certificates must carry the words “honorary” or “Honoris Causa.”
The policy also restricts universities to awarding only four types of honorary degrees — Doctor of Laws (LL.D), Doctor of Letters (D.Lit), Doctor of Science (D.Sc), and Doctor of Humanities (D.Arts). Institutions without active PhD programmes are barred from conferring honorary doctorates altogether.
Alausa recalled that past efforts, such as the 2012 Keffi Declaration by vice‑chancellors, lacked legal backing. “That is why we brought this to the Federal Executive Council, which now gives it legal and executive authority,” he said.
The minister disclosed that the Ministry of Education and the National Universities Commission (NUC) will circulate directives to all universities, monitor convocation programmes for compliance, and publish annually a list of legitimate honorary recipients to safeguard the integrity of earned academic qualifications.
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