The Federal Government has barred recipients of honorary degrees from using the title “Dr” in official, academic, or professional settings, warning that violations will be treated as academic fraud.
Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, announced the directive on Wednesday in Abuja while briefing journalists after a Federal Executive Council meeting.
According to him, the policy is aimed at addressing the increasing misuse and politicisation of honorary degrees within Nigeria’s tertiary education system.
Alausa expressed concern that such awards are often used for political patronage, financial incentives, and to honour serving public officials practices he said undermine academic integrity.
He stressed that presenting honorary degrees as earned academic qualifications will now attract sanctions, including legal and reputational consequences.
Under the new directive, honorary degree holders are prohibited from using “Dr” as a prefix to their names. Instead, they are required to clearly state the honorary nature of their awards, using formats such as “Honoris Causa” after their names.
The minister further clarified that only four categories of honorary degrees are recognised: 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 postgraduate programmes that award PhDs will no longer be permitted to confer honorary degrees.
Alausa noted that the policy is designed to curb the growing number of institutions issuing honorary doctorates without meeting proper academic standards.
He added that the Federal Ministry of Education, in collaboration with the National Universities Commission (NUC), will release detailed implementation guidelines and monitor compliance during convocation ceremonies.
To further strengthen oversight, the government will publish an annual national register of honorary degree recipients.
The minister confirmed that the policy has received approval from the Federal Executive Council and is now in effect nationwide.
