Nigeria Bans Use of “Dr” Title by Honorary Degree Holders

The Federal Government has announced a sweeping policy reform prohibiting recipients of honorary doctorates from using the title “Dr” in any official, academic, or professional capacity, in a move aimed at restoring credibility to Nigeria’s academic system.

The Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, disclosed the decision on Wednesday at the Presidential Villa in Abuja while briefing State House correspondents on recent Federal Executive Council (FEC) approvals.

According to him, the measure is part of broader reforms designed to standardise honorary degree awards and curb their misuse across Nigerian universities.

Alausa said the government had become increasingly concerned about what he described as the “abuse and politicisation” of honorary degrees, including their use for financial inducement, political patronage, and prestige inflation.

He stressed that honorary degrees must remain symbolic recognitions and not be confused with earned academic qualifications.

Under the new regulation, holders of honorary doctorates are expressly forbidden from prefixing “Dr” to their names. Instead, they are required to indicate the honorary nature of the award when listing credentials.

For example, the ministry stated that acceptable usage would include formats such as “Chief Louis Clark, D.Lit. (Honoris Causa)” or “Mrs Miriam Adamu, LL.D. (Hon.)”, clearly distinguishing honorary recognition from academic achievement.

The minister further warned that misrepresentation of honorary degrees as earned doctorates would now be treated as academic fraud, attracting both legal and reputational consequences.

In addition, the policy restricts honorary doctorates to four categories: Doctor of Laws (LL.D), Doctor of Letters (D.Lit), Doctor of Science (D.Sc), and Doctor of Humanities (D.Arts).

Universities without active PhD programmes have also been barred from awarding honorary degrees, a move aimed at strengthening academic standards and research capacity.

Alausa noted that previous efforts to regulate the practice, including the 2012 Keffi Declaration by Nigerian vice-chancellors, lacked enforceable legal backing. He said the new policy now has full Federal Executive Council approval and will be enforced nationwide.

The Federal Ministry of Education and the National Universities Commission (NUC) are expected to issue implementation guidelines to all tertiary institutions in the coming days.