The Federal Government of Nigeria has banned recipients of honorary degrees from using the “Dr” title before their names, declaring such usage a misrepresentation of academic credentials.
The government warned that anyone who prefixes “Dr” to their name based on an honorary award will be considered to have committed academic fraud, with possible legal and reputational consequences.
Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, announced the directive on Wednesday at the Presidential Villa in Abuja while briefing State House correspondents.
He said the decision followed approvals by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) as part of efforts to reform the award and usage of honorary degrees in Nigerian universities.
According to him, the new policy introduces a uniform standard aimed at ending the long-standing abuse and politicisation of honorary degrees, which he said have often been awarded for political patronage and financial gain rather than merit.
“The recent trend we’ve seen with the award of honorary degrees has revealed a growing abuse of this academic privilege.
“We’ve seen awards used for political patronage, for financial gain, and even conferred on serving public officials, which should not happen.”
Under the new guidelines, recipients must no longer prefix “Dr” to their names in official, academic, or professional settings.
Instead, they are required to indicate the honorary nature of the award by placing the designation after their names.
For example, recipients may write “Chief Louis Clark, D.Lit. (Honoris Causa)” or “Mrs Miriam Adamu, LL.D. (Hons.),” clearly distinguishing honorary awards from earned academic qualifications.
Alausa stressed that any attempt to present an honorary degree as an earned doctorate would be treated as academic fraud.
“All honorary degrees must clearly carry the words ‘honorary’ or ‘Honoris Causa’ on certificates and in all references,” he added.
Limiting categories to four
The policy also limits the categories of honorary degrees Nigerian universities can confer to four: Doctor of Laws (LL.D), Doctor of Letters (D.Lit), Doctor of Science (D.Sc), and Doctor of Humanities (D.Arts).
In addition, universities that do not run active PhD programmes are now barred from awarding honorary degrees.
The minister said this move targets the growing trend of relatively new institutions conferring honorary doctorates despite lacking postgraduate research capacity.
The directive further mandates the National Universities Commission (NUC) and the Federal Ministry of Education to issue compliance guidelines to vice-chancellors, registrars, and governing councils across the country.
To ensure enforcement, the government will monitor university convocation ceremonies and collaborate with the media to discourage the improper use of academic titles.
It also plans to publish an annual list of legitimate honorary degree recipients to safeguard the integrity of academic qualifications.
Alausa noted that previous attempts to regulate honorary degree awards—such as the 2012 Keffi Declaration by the Association of Vice-Chancellors—failed due to lack of legal backing.
“This time, the policy has full executive approval, giving it the authority needed for enforcement,” he said.
The Federal Government said the new measures are part of broader efforts to restore credibility and public confidence in Nigeria’s higher education system.
