The federal government has prohibited recipients of honorary degrees from using the prefix “Dr” in official, academic, or professional settings.
It declared that the use of the title by such recipients is a misrepresentation of academic credentials, which would now be viewed as academic fraud, with legal and reputational implications.
Tunji Alausa, Minister of Education, said this on Wednesday at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, while addressing State House media on two Federal Executive Council approvals that were not reported at the previous cabinet meeting on April 30.
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The policy aims to curb the growing abuse, commercialisation, and politicisation of honorary degrees.
“The recent trend we’ve seen with the award of honorary degrees has revealed a growing abuse and politicisation of this academic privilege,” the minister said.
He cited examples of honors given for political favor, financial gain, or to serving public officials that violate the ethics of honorary degrees.
Honorary degree recipients must no longer use the prefix “Dr” in their names, according to the new standards. Instead, they must include the complete honorary designation after their name, such as “Chief Louis Clark, D.Lit. (Doctor of Literature, Honoris Causa)” or “Mrs Miriam Adamu, LL.D. Hons.”
“Misrepresentation of honorary degrees as earned academic credentials shall be considered academic fraud and subject to legal and reputational consequences,” Alausa cautioned.
The policy also restricts the types of honorary degrees that can be conferred to four: Doctor of Laws (LL.D), Doctor of Letters (D.Lit), Doctor of Science (D.Sc), and Doctor of Humanities (D. Arts). Only universities with current PhD programmes will be able to grant them.
All honorary degree diplomas and references must explicitly state “Honorary” or “Honoris Causa.” The government will send a circular to all vice-chancellors, oversee compliance during convocations, and publish an annual list of eligible recipients.
The move resolves long-standing academic concerns about the indiscriminate conferral of honorary degrees, which earlier voluntary recommendations such as the 2012 Keffi Declaration were unable to manage due to a lack of legal support.
The National Universities Commission (NUC) will enforce the policy.