•Moves to curb misuse of honorary doctorate degrees

By Joseph Erunke, ABUJA

The National Universities Commission, NUC, has expressed deep concern over the rising misuse of honorary doctorate degrees in Nigeria, warning that the trend threatens the credibility of the nation’s higher education system. 

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This came as the Commission received the report of its Committee on the Investigation of the Awards and Public Use or Misuse of Honorary Doctorates by Recipients in Nigeria.

The committee, inaugurated on September 1, 2025, by the Executive Secretary of the NUC, Prof. Abdullahi Ribadu, was constituted following a series of petitions from citizens and stakeholders alarmed by the indiscriminate award and unethical use of honorary doctorate titles across the country.

Presenting the report in Abuja, the Committee Chairman, Prof. Kabiru Baladi, said the investigation was prompted by concerns that some individuals were exploiting honorary titles for prestige, personal gain, and unearned academic status, thereby undermining the sanctity of the recognition.

He explained that the committee adopted a case-study methodology, content analysis, and extensive review of public documents, including memoranda from 27 Nigerian vice-chancellors. Similar guidelines from universities and regulatory bodies in the US, UK, Canada, Australia, Europe, Africa, and Asia were also examined to provide comparative insights.

According to the findings, while honorary degrees are intended to celebrate exceptional service and societal contributions, the practice in Nigeria has come under serious scrutiny due to inconsistent standards, abuse of titles, and the activities of unaccredited institutions that operate as “degree mills.”

He noted that although some Nigerian universities comply with established guidelines, others flout basic norms, including measures outlined in the 2022 Keffi Declaration, a voluntary commitment by vice-chancellors to regulate the award of honorary degrees. 

Key provisions of the declaration include a ban on awarding honorary doctorates to serving public officials and a prohibition against self-nomination.

He stressed that in many cases, recipients use honorary degrees to parade themselves as “doctors,” misleading the public and equating themselves with individuals who have completed rigorous academic or professional doctoral training.

“An honorary degree does not confer the right to use the title ‘doctor.’ At best, recipients may indicate the award with the suffix: honoris causa, he said. 

“Unfortunately, many recipients misuse the title, with some even imagining themselves medical doctors.”

The Executive Secretary of the NUC, Prof. Abdullahi Ribadu, who received the report, described the committee’s work as thorough and timely. 

He expressed alarm over the committee’s discovery of 32 institutions operating as honorary doctorate degree mills in Nigeria. 

These include 10 foreign agricultural universities, four unlicensed local universities, 15 professional bodies with no degree-awarding powers, and three non-degree-awarding institutions.

“Some of these institutions even confer fake professorships,” he lamented, warning that such acts constitute fraud and are liable to prosecution.

Prof. Ribadu reaffirmed that the authority to award honorary doctorates rests solely with approved Nigerian universities, as stipulated in the Education (National Minimum Standards and Establishment of Institutions) Act. 

He emphasized that recipients must not use the awards to assume academic roles, supervise research, or function as professionals in fields for which they lack formal training.

He cited the recent honorary doctorate conferred on former President Goodluck Jonathan by Nile University,more than ten years after he left office,as an example of best practice, contrasting it with cases where universities award honorary titles to serving officials in pursuit of patronage.

The NUC, he said, has now developed a national guideline for the award and use of honorary doctorate degrees, which will soon be published.

Thereafter, the Commission will begin a nationwide clampdown on institutions and individuals abusing the titles, in collaboration with law enforcement agencies and other government bodies.

“This is not just an ethical issue,misusing the title ‘doctor’ based on an honorary degree without proper disclosure amounts to false representation and violates fraud-related laws,” he warned.

The Executive Secretary called on the media, regulatory agencies, and the general public to support the NUC’s effort to restore dignity to honorary recognitions in Nigeria’s university system.

“Let us defend the integrity of Nigerian higher education. Honorary degrees must remain symbols of true excellence, not instruments of exploitation, “he said.

Ribadu reiterated that only approved Nigerian universities,public or private,are legally permitted to award honorary doctorate degrees, in line with the Education (National Minimum Standards and Establishment of Institutions) Act. 

He emphasised that recipients are allowed to indicate honoris causa titles such as Doctor of Literature (Honoris Causa) or D.Litt. (h.c.), but must not use “Dr” as a prefix, which is reserved for PhD holders and certified medical professionals.