Nigerian Government Bans ‘Dr’ Prefix for Honorary Degree Holders In Universities
The Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, revealed the directive on Wednesday at the Presidential Villa in Abuja while addressing journalists about recent decisions approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC). He was joined by the Minister of State for Education, Suwaiba Ahmad.
myschoolnews 
Nigeria’s Federal Government has announced a new policy banning recipients of honorary degrees from using the “Dr” title before their names in any official, academic, or professional context in Nigerian Universities
The Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, revealed the directive on Wednesday at the Presidential Villa in Abuja while addressing journalists about recent decisions approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC). He was joined by the Minister of State for Education, Suwaiba Ahmad.
According to Alausa, the new guideline is part of a broader effort to standardize how honorary degrees are awarded and used across Nigerian universities. It aims to curb longstanding abuses, including the politicization of honorary awards and their use for financial or personal gain.
He noted that some institutions have been granting honorary degrees to serving public officials and other individuals under questionable circumstances, a practice the government now seeks to end in order to restore credibility to academic distinctions.
Under the revised policy, honorary degree recipients must no longer prefix “Dr” to their names. Instead, they are required to display the full title after their name to clearly indicate its honorary status. For example, a recipient might write “Chief Louis Clark, D.Lit. (Honoris Causa)” or “Mrs Miriam Adamu, LL.D. Hons.”
The minister emphasized that presenting an honorary degree as an earned academic qualification will now be treated as academic fraud, carrying potential legal and reputational consequences.
In addition, the government has limited honorary degrees to four recognized categories: Doctor of Laws (LL.D), Doctor of Letters (D.Lit), Doctor of Science (D.Sc), and Doctor of Humanities (D.Arts). Universities that do not currently run accredited PhD programmes are also barred from awarding honorary degrees.
The policy is intended to bring greater integrity and transparency to Nigeria’s higher education system while reinforcing the distinction between earned and honorary academic titles.
