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Abuja, FCT – By Prime Brief Media

The Federal Government on Wednesday announced a comprehensive ban on the use of the "Dr" prefix by holders of honorary doctorate degrees, declaring that any misrepresentation of honorary qualifications as earned academic credentials will be treated as academic fraud with attendant legal and reputational consequences. The Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, disclosed this while briefing State House correspondents on two memoranda approved by the Federal Executive Council at its meeting on Thursday, 30 April 2026.

Alausa, who was flanked by the Minister of State for Education, Prof. Suwaiba Ahmad, said the policy is designed to end decades of indiscriminate conferment of honorary degrees for political patronage and financial gain, and to restore public confidence in the integrity of academic titles. "The recent trend we've seen with the award of honorary degrees has revealed a growing abuse and politicisation of this academic privilege. We've seen awards being used for political patronage, for financial gain, as well as the conferment of awards on serving public officials, which, as part of the ethics of honorary degree awards, should not happen," the minister stated.

Under the new policy, recipients of honorary degrees may no longer prefix "Dr" to their names. Instead, they must cite the full honorary designation after their names. Giving examples of proper usage, Alausa explained: "For instance, you can use Chief Louis Clark, D.Lit. (Doctor of Literature, Honoris Causa)" or "Mrs Miriam Adamu, LL.D. Hons." The minister emphasised that this format clearly distinguishes the honorary nature of the award from earned academic doctorates.

The policy restricts the types of honorary degrees that Nigerian universities may confer to four categories: Doctor of Laws (LL.D.), Doctor of Letters (D.Lit.), Doctor of Science (D.Sc.), and Doctor of Humanities (D.Arts). Furthermore, universities without active PhD-awarding programmes are barred entirely from conferring honorary degrees. Alausa noted that the restriction targets the proliferation of newer institutions that have been awarding honorary doctorates despite being less than five years old and having no postgraduate research programmes.

All honorary degrees must henceforth carry the words "honorary" or "Honoris Causa" on the award certificate and in all references. The minister noted that the National Universities Commission (NUC) has the statutory power to enforce the policy, and that the Federal Ministry of Education, in collaboration with the NUC, will issue a circular to all vice-chancellors, registrars, and governing councils. Convocation programmes will also be monitored for compliance.

The policy gives legal and executive backing to the Keffi Declaration, a set of guiding principles for awarding honorary degrees that was adopted by the Association of Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian Universities in 2012. "The association doesn't have any legal backing to enforce anything. That is why we brought this to the Federal Executive Council, which now gives it legal and executive backing," Alausa explained. He added that the government would collaborate with the media to discourage improper attribution of academic titles to honorary recipients, and that the ministry will publish an annual list of legitimate honorary degree recipients to protect the integrity of earned academic qualifications.

In a related development, the minister announced the establishment of the National Research and Innovation Development Fund, with an annual allocation of $500 million. Alausa noted that Nigeria possesses abundant talent in research and innovation that has remained underdeveloped due to neglect by successive administrations, and commended President Bola Tinubu for taking bold steps to ensure the fund's establishment for the benefit of the nation's institutions of higher learning.

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