Nigeria Bans 'Dr' Title for Honorary Degrees

The Federal Government of Nigeria, through its Nigeria — Federal Ministry of Interior (Nigeria) and with approval from the Nigeria — Executive Council, has banned recipients of honorary degrees from using the 'Dr' title. This new policy, announced by Minister of Education Tunji Alausa, aims to curb the widespread abuse, politicisation, and commercialisation of honorary degrees, which have eroded the credibility of academic titles. Under the revised guidelines, honorary degree holders must indicate the honorary nature of their award after their names, and misrepresentation will be treated as academic fraud. The policy also restricts Nigerian universities to awarding only four categories of honorary doctorates and bars institutions without active PhD programs from conferring them. The Nigeria — National Universities Commission is empowered to enforce compliance, monitor convocation ceremonies, and publish an annual list of legitimate recipients. This move provides legal backing to previous efforts like the Keffi Declaration, which lacked enforcement powers.