FG has banned honorary degree holders from using ‘Dr’ title and warned of academic fraud.
NewsOnline Nigeria reports that the Federal Government of Nigeria has banned recipients of honorary degrees from prefixing “Dr” to their names in official, academic, or professional usage, declaring the practice a misrepresentation of academic credentials.
Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, announced the directive on Wednesday at the Presidential Villa in Abuja while briefing State House correspondents on recent approvals by the Federal Executive Council (FEC).
According to the minister, the new policy which is approved by FEC seeks to curb the growing abuse and politicisation of honorary degrees across Nigerian universities and restore credibility to academic titles. He noted that the misuse of such titles will now be treated as academic fraud, attracting legal and reputational consequences.
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“The recent trend we’ve seen with the award of honorary degrees has revealed a growing abuse and politicisation of this academic privilege,” Alausa said, citing cases where the honours were allegedly used for political patronage and financial gain.
Under the new guideline, recipients must no longer use “Dr” as a prefix. Instead, they are required to state the full honorary designation after their names for example, “D.Lit. (Honoris Causa)” or “LL.D. (Hons)”—to clearly distinguish honorary awards from earned academic qualifications.
The policy also limits honorary degrees to four recognised categories: Doctor of Laws (LL.D), Doctor of Letters (D.Lit), Doctor of Science (D.Sc), and Doctor of Humanities (D.Arts). Additionally, universities without active PhD programmes are barred from conferring honorary degrees.
Alausa explained that the restriction targets the rising trend of newer institutions awarding honorary doctorates despite lacking postgraduate research capacity. He added that all such degrees must explicitly carry the designation “honorary” or “Honoris Causa” on certificates and in official references.
The directive will be enforced by the National Universities Commission (NUC) and the Ministry of Education, with compliance monitoring extended to convocation ceremonies. The government also plans to publish an annual list of legitimate honorary degree recipients and work with the media to prevent misuse of academic titles.
The move builds on earlier efforts, including the 2012 Keffi Declaration by the Association of Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian Universities, which lacked legal backing. With FEC approval, the new policy now carries full executive authority, marking a significant step toward restoring integrity in Nigeria’s academic system.
