The Federal Government on Wednesday declared that holders of honorary degrees are no longer allowed to prefix “Dr” to their names in any official, academic, or professional context.
It also created the National Research and Development Fund, which will receive $500 million annually.
These announcements were made by the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, while briefing State House correspondents about two memoranda he presented to the Federal Executive Council (FEC) at its meeting last Thursday, both of which were approved.
He explained that the FEC endorsed a standardized policy governing how Nigerian universities award and use honorary degrees.
Alausa, alongside the Minister of State for Education, Prof. Suwaiba Ahmad, stated that using “Dr.” without earning it amounts to misuse of the doctorate title.
He added that such usage misrepresents academic qualifications and will now be treated as academic fraud, carrying legal and reputational penalties.
According to him, the policy aims to stop what he described as decades of unchecked awarding of honorary degrees for political favoritism and financial benefits, and to rebuild trust in academic titles.
He said: “The recent trend we’ve seen with the award of honorary degrees has revealed a growing abuse and politicisation of this academic privilege.
“We’ve seen awards being used for political patronage, for financial gain, as well as the conferment of awards on serving public officials, which, as part of the ethics of honorary degree awards, should not happen.”
Under the new guidelines, recipients of honorary degrees cannot prefix “Dr” to their names.
Instead, they must place the full honorary title after their names.
Providing examples, Alausa said, “For instance, you can use Chief Louis Clark, D.Lit. (Doctor of Literature, Honoris Causa)” or “Mrs Miriam Adamu, LL.D. Hons.”
He noted that this format makes it clear the degree is honorary, not earned.
“Recipients shall not prefix ‘doctor’ to their names in official, academic, or professional usage,” the minister reiterated, adding that “Misrepresentation of honorary degrees as earned academic credentials shall be considered academic fraud and subject to legal and reputational consequences.”
The policy also limits Nigerian 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).
Additionally, institutions without active PhD programmes are prohibited from awarding honorary degrees.
Alausa explained that this measure is meant to curb the trend of newer universities—some less than five years old and lacking postgraduate research programmes—granting honorary doctorates.
He further stated that all honorary degrees must clearly include the terms “honorary” or “Honoris Causa” on certificates and in any references.
For more than a decade, Nigeria’s academic community has expressed concern about the commercialization and politicization of honorary degrees, with universities often granting them to wealthy donors and public officials in exchange for financial support rather than merit.
In 2012, the Association of Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian Universities attempted to tackle the issue through what became known as the Keffi Declaration.
The Keffi Declaration set out a number of guiding principles for awarding honorary degrees.
However, the document lacked legal or executive support and was therefore mostly disregarded, Alausa said.
He explained, “The association doesn’t have any legal backing to enforce anything.
“That is why we brought this to the Federal Executive Council, which now gives it legal and executive backing.”
The minister stated that the Federal Ministry of Education and the National Universities Commission would send a circular to all vice-chancellors, registrars, and governing councils on this matter.
He also mentioned that convocation programmes would be monitored to ensure adherence to the Keffi Declaration, and that the government would work with the media to discourage improper use of academic titles by honorary recipients. The ministry, Alausa said, would also release an annual list of legitimate honorary degree recipients to safeguard the credibility of earned academic qualifications.
He added that the NUC has the statutory authority to enforce the policy.
Alausa said the creation of the National Research and Innovation Development Fund, with an annual [ $500 ] million, would support workers in research and innovation.
He pointed out that Nigeria has strong talent in research and innovation, but this potential has not been fully developed due to neglect by successive administrations.
He praised President Bola Tinubu for taking decisive steps to ensure the establishment of such a fund for the benefit of the nation’s higher education institutions.
