The Federal Government has banned recipients of honorary doctorate degrees from using the title “Dr” as a prefix to their names in official, academic and professional engagements.
The government also announced the establishment of a National Research and Innovation Development Fund with an annual allocation of $500 million to support research and innovation across the country.
Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, disclosed the decisions while briefing State House correspondents after the Federal Executive Council, FEC, meeting in Abuja.
According to him, the council approved a uniform policy regulating the award and use of honorary degrees by Nigerian universities.
Mr Alausa, who spoke alongside the Minister of State for Education, Prof. Suwaiba Ahmad, said the misuse of honorary doctorates had become widespread and amounted to an abuse of academic integrity.
He stated that individuals who falsely present honorary degrees as earned academic qualifications would henceforth be regarded as engaging in academic fraud, with possible legal and reputational consequences.
“The recent trend in the award of honorary degrees has revealed growing abuse and politicisation of this academic privilege,” the minister said.
“We have seen honorary awards used for political patronage, financial gain, and even conferred on serving public officials, which should not happen under the ethics guiding such awards.”
Under the new policy, honorary degree recipients will no longer be allowed to attach “Dr” before their names. Instead, they are required to indicate the honorary nature of the award after their names.
Mr Alausa explained that acceptable formats would include examples such as “Chief Louis Clark, D.Lit. (Honoris Causa)” or “Mrs Miriam Adamu, LL.D. Hons.”
According to him, this distinction is necessary to clearly separate honorary awards from earned academic qualifications.
The policy also limits the categories of honorary degrees Nigerian universities can award to four, namely: Doctor of Laws (LL.D.), Doctor of Letters (D.Lit.), Doctor of Science (D.Sc.), and Doctor of Humanities (D.Arts).
In addition, universities without active PhD programmes will no longer be permitted to confer honorary doctorates.
The minister said the measure was aimed at curbing the increasing trend of newly established institutions awarding honorary degrees despite lacking postgraduate research structures.
He further directed that all honorary awards must clearly carry the words “Honorary” or “Honoris Causa” on certificates and in all official references.
Mr Alausa noted that concerns over the commercialisation and politicisation of honorary degrees had persisted within Nigeria’s academic community for years, with some institutions allegedly conferring awards on wealthy individuals and politicians in exchange for financial patronage.
He recalled that the Association of Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian Universities had introduced the Keffi Declaration in 2012 to regulate the process, but said the framework lacked legal backing and was largely ignored.
“The association did not have the legal authority to enforce compliance. That is why we took the policy to the Federal Executive Council for executive approval,” he said.
The minister disclosed that the Federal Ministry of Education and the National Universities Commission, NUC, would issue compliance guidelines to all vice-chancellors, registrars and governing councils.
He added that convocation ceremonies and award processes would be monitored, while the government would also work with media organisations to discourage the improper use of academic titles.
According to him, the ministry will publish an annual list of legitimate honorary degree recipients to protect the integrity of earned academic qualifications.
On the newly approved National Research and Innovation Development Fund, Alausa said the initiative would help unlock Nigeria’s vast research and innovation potential, which he said had suffered years of neglect.
He praised President Bola Tinubu for approving the intervention fund, describing it as a major boost for higher education, research institutions and innovation-driven development in the country.
