FG bans use of ‘Dr’ title by honorary Degree holders, warns of sanctions

By Johnson Arua

The Federal Government has prohibited recipients of honorary degrees from using the “Dr” title in official, academic, or professional settings, describing the practice as misrepresentation and academic fraud.

Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, announced the policy following approval by the Federal Executive Council, saying the move is intended to curb what he called the growing abuse and politicisation of honorary awards in Nigerian universities.

“We’ve seen awards being used for political patronage and financial gain,” Alausa said, stressing that honorary degree recipients must no longer prefix “Dr” to their names.

Under the new directive, beneficiaries of such honours are required to adopt post-nominal designations—such as “D.Lit (Honoris Causa)”—to clearly indicate the honorary nature of the award.

The minister warned that presenting honorary degrees as earned academic qualifications would be treated as academic fraud, with potential legal and reputational consequences.

The policy also introduces stricter guidelines on the conferment of honorary awards, limiting them to defined categories and barring universities without active PhD programmes from issuing such honours.

The National Universities Commission has been tasked with overseeing compliance and enforcement across the country.