The Federal Government of Nigeria has prohibited recipients of honorary degrees from using the “Dr” title as a prefix to their names, declaring the practice a form of academic misrepresentation that will attract sanctions.
Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, announced the directive on Wednesday at the Presidential Villa in Abuja while briefing State House correspondents on decisions approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC).
According to the minister, the new policy establishes a uniform standard for the award and usage of honorary degrees across Nigerian universities, aimed at curbing widespread abuse and restoring the integrity of academic titles.
He stated that individuals conferred with honorary degrees must no longer prefix “Dr” to their names in official, academic, or professional settings. Instead, recipients are required to indicate the honorary nature of the award by placing the full designation after their names.
“For instance, you can use Chief Louis Clark, D.Lit. (Doctor of Literature, Honoris Causa) or Mrs Miriam Adamu, LL.D. Hons.,” Alausa explained, noting that the format clearly distinguishes honorary awards from earned academic qualifications.
The government warned that any attempt to present honorary degrees as earned credentials would be treated as academic fraud, carrying both legal and reputational consequences.
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Alausa said the move follows growing concerns over the politicisation and commercialisation of honorary degrees, with some institutions allegedly conferring such honours for patronage and financial gain, including to serving public officials.
Under the new guidelines, Nigerian universities are restricted to awarding only four categories of honorary degrees: Doctor of Laws (LL.D), Doctor of Letters (D.Lit), Doctor of Science (D.Sc), and Doctor of Humanities (D.Arts).
Additionally, institutions that do not run active PhD programmes have been barred from awarding honorary degrees altogether.
The policy is expected to take immediate effect as part of broader reforms to strengthen academic standards and public confidence in Nigeria’s higher education system.