The Federal Government has approved a new policy prohibiting recipients of honorary degrees from using the title “Dr,” introducing stricter regulations to guide the award and usage of honorary doctorates in Nigeria’s tertiary institutions.
The decision, approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC), also outlines sanctions for violations as part of efforts to curb the abuse and commercialisation of honorary degrees.
Speaking in Abuja on Wednesday, the Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, said the policy became necessary following growing concerns over the misuse and politicisation of honorary awards.
According to him, the reform is aimed at protecting academic integrity, restoring public confidence in university honours, and addressing what he described as the indiscriminate conferment of honorary doctorates.
Alausa said the government had observed a “troubling trend” where some universities confer honorary doctorates indiscriminately, including on serving public officials, while recipients subsequently adopt the “Doctor” title in public and official engagements.
“Recipients are expected to acknowledge the degree as an award or recognition and not as a formal academic qualification,” he said.
The minister warned that presenting honorary degrees as earned academic credentials amounts to academic fraud and could attract legal and reputational consequences.
Under the new framework, only universities with established PhD-awarding programmes will be permitted to confer honorary doctorates.
Alausa described the practice of institutions without doctoral programmes awarding honorary degrees as a “misnomer.”
He added that the policy reinforces the Keffi Declaration, developed by the Committee of Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian Universities to address abuses linked to honorary awards.
The minister said the Federal Ministry of Education, through the National Universities Commission (NUC), will issue implementation guidelines, monitor convocation ceremonies, and publish an annual list of legitimate honorary degree recipients.
“We will collaborate with the media to discourage the improper attribution of academic titles to people who were awarded honorary degrees,” he said.
Responding to concerns over institutional autonomy, Alausa maintained that universities must still operate within the law.
“Autonomy does not equate to the right to break the law in this country,” the minister added.
Also speaking, Minister of State for Education, Suwaiba Ahmad, said the Keffi Declaration had previously existed only as a guiding framework developed by vice-chancellors without legal force.
She noted that the new federal approval now gives the declaration “authoritative backing” for proper implementation.
In a related development, the FEC also approved the establishment of a national research and innovation development fund aimed at improving coordination within Nigeria’s research ecosystem and aligning investments with national development priorities.
