Nigerian govt bans award of honorary doctorate degrees to serving officials

The Federal Government has placed a ban on the award of honorary doctorate degrees to serving public officials.
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The Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission, NUC, Prof Abdullahi Ribadu, made this announcement on Friday while receiving a report from a committee investigating the award and public use/misuse of honorary doctorate degrees by recipients in Nigeria.

The commission said the decision followed the alleged misuse of such degrees, adding that the Commission was compelled to act following alarming findings from a nationwide investigation into how honorary degrees are awarded and used.

“These degrees are meant to recognise outstanding service or achievements, but unfortunately, they have increasingly been misused,” he said.

The NUC boss stated that the trend has been worsened by the rise of unaccredited and illegal institutions, both local and foreign, operating as honorary degree mills.

According to him, NUC’s investigation revealed widespread violations, particularly of the Keffi Declaration of 2012, an agreement by Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian universities to regulate the award of honorary degrees.

“The declaration expressly forbids universities from awarding honorary doctorates to serving public officials and cautions recipients against using the title “Dr” without proper disclosure.

“This is not just a matter of ethics; it is a matter of law. Using the title ‘Dr’ based on an honorary degree without clarification amounts to false representation, which is punishable under various fraud-related laws in Nigeria,” Ribadu stated.

He, however, warned that misuse of honorary titles undermines the integrity of universities and diminishes public trust in genuine academic qualifications.

Nigerian govt bans award of honorary doctorate degrees to serving officials