BREAKING: FG Bans Use of “Dr” Title by Honorary Degree Holders

The Federal Government has banned recipients of honorary degrees from using the “Dr” title, warning that any misuse will now be treated as academic fraud.

The Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, announced the directive on Wednesday at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, following approval by the Federal Executive Council.

He said the decision was aimed at curbing the abuse and politicisation of honorary awards and restoring credibility to academic titles in Nigeria.

“The recent trend we’ve seen with the award of honorary degrees has revealed a growing abuse and politicisation of this academic privilege,” he said.

“We’ve seen awards being used for political patronage, for financial gain, as well as the conferral of awards on serving public officials, which should not happen.”

Under the new policy, recipients are no longer permitted to prefix “Dr” to their names in official, academic, or professional usage. Instead, they must indicate the honorary nature of such awards.

“Recipients shall not prefix doctor to their names in official, academic or professional usage,” Alausa said, adding that “misrepresentation of honorary degrees as earned academic credentials shall be considered academic fraud and subject to legal and reputational consequences.”

The policy also restricts honorary degrees in Nigerian universities to four categories: Doctor of Laws (LL.D), Doctor of Letters (D.Lit), Doctor of Science (D.Sc), and Doctor of Humanities (D.Arts).

He further stated that universities without active PhD programmes will no longer be allowed to award honorary degrees, as part of efforts to curb abuse by newer institutions.

All honorary awards must now clearly indicate “honorary” or “Honoris Causa”, while the Ministry of Education and the National Universities Commission will enforce compliance.

The government also plans to publish an annual list of legitimate honorary degree recipients to protect the integrity of academic qualifications.