FG bans ‘Dr’ prefix for honorary degree holders -

The government also established the National Research and Development Fund, with an annual allocation of $500 million.

These decisions were disclosed by the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, while briefing State House correspondents on the two memoranda he presented to the Federal Executive Council, FEC, at its meeting last Thursday, which were approved.

He said the FEC approved a uniform policy for the award and use of honorary degrees by Nigerian universities.

Alausa, who was flanked by the Minister of State for Education, Prof. Suwaiba Ahmad, said the use of “Dr.” by people who do not merit it is an abuse of the doctorate degree.

He said the use of the title by such recipients constitutes a misrepresentation of academic credentials that would henceforth be treated as academic fraud, with attendant legal and reputational consequences.

The policy, he explained, is designed to end what he described as decades of indiscriminate conferment of the degrees for political patronage and financial gain, and to restore public confidence in the integrity of academic titles.

He said: “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.”
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 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.”
Alausa said this format clearly shows the honorary, rather than earned, academic nature of the award.

“Recipients shall not prefix ‘doctor’ to their names in official, academic, or professional usage,” the minister said, adding, “Misrepresentation of honorary degrees as earned academic credentials shall be considered academic fraud and subject to legal and reputational consequences.”

The policy also restricts the types of honorary degrees Nigerian universities can confer to four: Doctor of Laws (LL.D.), Doctor of Letters (D.Lit.), Doctor of Science (D.Sc.), and Doctor of Humanities (D.Arts).