The Federal Government has officially prohibited recipients of honorary degrees from using the "Dr" prefix in official, academic, or professional settings.
Education Minister Tunji Alausa announced the decision following a Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting, declaring that the move is necessary to curb the "indiscriminate conferral" of titles for political and financial gain.
Under the new uniform policy, recipients must now cite the full honorary designation after their names (e.g., D.Lit. Honoris Causa) rather than using the title before their names.
Alausa warned that misrepresenting an honorary award as a hard-earned academic credential will now be treated as academic fraud, carrying legal and reputational consequences.
“We’ve seen awards being used for political patronage and financial gain... this must stop,” the Minister stated.
According to Qubes Magazine, the National Universities Commission (NUC) has been empowered to enforce these rules, which also bar universities without active PhD programmes from awarding honorary doctorates.
The policy strictly limits honorary degrees to four categories: Laws (LL.D), Letters (D.Lit), Science (D.Sc), and Humanities (D.Arts).
The government plans to publish an annual list of legitimate recipients to protect the integrity of Nigeria's educational system.
#NigeriaEducation #HonoraryDegree #AcademicIntegrity #NUC #FederalGovernment #TunjiAlausa #EducationPolicy
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