The Federal Government has announced a clampdown on universities on the misuse of honorary doctorate titles.

Specifically, it warned universities against conferring honorary doctorate degrees on serving political office holders.
This is even as it revealed that some individuals procure the titles from institutions for as much as N50 million.

Executive Secretary, National Universities Commission (NUC), Prof. Abdullahi Ribadu, stated this in Abuja on Friday while receiving the report of the Committee on the Misuse of Honorary Doctorate Degrees by Recipients in Nigeria.
He expressed concern over the rise of unaccredited and illegal institutions operating as honorary doctorate degree mills in the country.

Prof. Ribadu lamented that many institutions fail to comply with the Keffi Declaration of 2012 where Vice-Chancellors prohibited the award of honorary degrees to serving political office holders.
The Executive Secretary revealed that 32 institutions have become factories for producing honorary doctorate degrees.

He cautioned that any institution found culpable would face penalties, adding that the Commission would work with the National Assembly to put a legal framework in place to punish violators.
He pointed out that giving the titles to serving political office holders amounts to seeking political patronage.

“To the extent that there are people who even buy, give the university N20 million, N30 million, N40 million, N50 million, get honorary doctorate degree, and they go about branding themselves as doctors, comparing themselves to people who have worked tirelessly to earn a PhD,” he said.
He added: “The Keffi Declaration also cautioned recipients against using the title ‘Dr’ without proper disclosure.

“Using the title ‘Dr’ based on an honorary degree without clarification amounts to false representation, which is punishable under various fraud-related laws in Nigeria. Beyond the legal implications, this trend threatens the integrity of our universities and the value of genuine academic qualifications. It undermines the hard work of scholars and diminishes public trust in our education system.

“The report of the investigation identifies 32 institutions operating as honorary doctorate degree mills, including 10 unaccredited foreign universities, 4 unlicensed local universities, 15 professional bodies with no degree-awarding powers, and 3 other non-degree-awarding institutions.

“It should be noted that this figure may not be exhaustive. It is even more alarming that some of these institutions go as far as awarding fake professorships. Let us be clear; awarding honorary degrees is a legal responsibility of Nigerian universities, and The Education (National Minimum Standards and Establishment of Institutions) Act, Chapter E2, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, L.F.N. 2004, empowers the National Universities Commission to regulate the award and use of honorary doctorate degrees in Nigeria.”

He stressed the determination of the Commission to guide the proper use of honorary degrees, regulate their awards, as well as protect the sanctity of the university educational system.

“For the avoidance of doubt, only approved universities (either public or private) are eligible to award honorary doctorate degrees in Nigeria,” he emphasised.
Earlier, Chairman of the Committee, Prof. Kabiru Bala, disclosed that only 27 out of over 312 universities submitted reports.

He recalled that the panel was inaugurated sometime in September after the Commission was inundated with a series of petitions from concerned citizens and stakeholders over the widespread misuse of honorary doctorate degrees by several recipients in the country.
The report recommended that the Commission enforce uniform standards for awarding honorary doctorate degrees by universities.

The Guardian reports that the development comes five months after Ghana banned unearned academic titles.
In June this year, the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) issued a directive banning individuals from publicly using honorary doctorate or professorship titles, warning that violators would face public exposure and possible legal action.