The Federal Government, through the National Universities Commission, has halted the award of honorary doctoral degrees to serving public officials.
The commission said the move became necessary due to the alleged abuse of such honours.
The Executive Secretary of the NUC, Prof. Abdullahi Ribadu, announced the ban yesterday while receiving the report of a committee set up to investigate the award and public use or misuse of honorary doctoral degrees in Nigeria.
Ribadu said the commission was forced to act after uncovering troubling details in a nationwide review of how these degrees are conferred and applied.
“These degrees are meant to recognise outstanding service or achievements, but unfortunately, they have increasingly been misused,” he said.
Ribadu said the Commission was compelled to act following alarming findings from a nationwide investigation into how honorary degrees are awarded and used.
“These degrees are meant to recognise outstanding service or achievements, but unfortunately, they have increasingly been misused,” he said.
Prof. Ribadu noted that the NUC’s inquiry exposed widespread breaches, particularly violations of the Keffi Declaration of 2012—an agreement among Nigerian Vice-Chancellors that sets standards for awarding honorary degrees.
The declaration prohibits universities from granting honorary doctorates to public officials still in office and warns recipients against using the title “Dr” without proper clarification.
“This is not just a matter of ethics; it is a matter of law. Using the title ‘Dr’ based on an honorary degree without clarification amounts to false representation, which is punishable under various fraud-related laws in Nigeria,” Ribadu stated.
He cautioned that the misuse of such titles threatens the credibility of universities and erodes public confidence in legitimate academic qualifications.
According to him, the investigation identified 32 entities operating as honorary degree mills in the country.
These include 10 unaccredited foreign universities, 4 unlicensed local universities, 15 professional bodies without degree-awarding authority, and three other institutions not authorised to award degrees.
The NUC noted that some of these organisations even confer fake professorships.
Ribadu added: “Let us be clear. Awarding honorary degrees is a legal responsibility of Nigerian universities. The law empowers the NUC to regulate both the award and the use of honorary doctorate degrees in Nigeria.”
He stressed that only duly approved public and private universities are permitted to award honorary doctorates.
“Even then, recipients must use appropriate nomenclature such as Doctor of Literature (Honoris Causa) rather than adopting the title ‘Dr’, which is reserved for holders of earned doctorates and medical professionals,” he added.
