Henceforth, honorary degree holders in Nigerian must not add “Dr” prefix to their names, as doing so now, constitutes academic fraud.
Honorary degree holders who go ahead to add it to their names, would face reputational and legal consequences the government says.
This latest stance on honorary degree holders and the use of the Dr prefix, was a major item on the brief of the Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, to State House correspondents at the Presidential Villa, Abuja today.
The Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, disclosed this on Wednesday at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, while briefing State House correspondents on two Federal Executive Council approvals that had not been announced at the last cabinet meeting, which held on April 30.
The minister explained that the latest directive is to checkmate indiscriminate conferral of degrees which he said had gone on for decades, for political patronage and financial gain.
“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 conferral of awards on serving public officials, which, as part of the ethics of honorary degree awards, should not happen.”
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Rather than the Dr prefix, honorary degree holders must cite the full honorary designation after their name.
“For instance, you can use Chief Louis Clark, D.Lit. (Doctor of Literature, Honoris Causa)” or “Mrs Miriam Adamu, LL.D. Hons.
“Recipients shall not prefix doctor to their names in official, academic or professional usage.
“Misrepresentation of honorary degrees as earned academic credentials shall be considered academic fraud and subject to legal and reputational consequences.”
On how the new policy affects awarding institutions, the minister said the honorary degrees Nigerian universities can confer are four thus:
- Doctor of Laws (LL.D)
- Doctor of Letters (D.Lit)
- Doctor of Science (D.Sc), and
- Doctor of Humanities (D.Arts).
He bemoaned a situation whereby institutions of relatively few years in existence and lacking facilities for postgraduate learning could be awarding honorary doctorate degrees.
He said the Federal Ministry of Education and the National Universities Commission (NUC) would soon issue a circular to relevant institutions and authorities on the latest development.
As a way of protecting the integrity of earned academic qualifications, the minister said that the ministry would publish annually, a list of legitimate honorary degree recipients.
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