Di Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, don drop hammer on honorary degree holders wey dey use ‘Dr’ prefix for dia name. Di Federal Executive Council don finalise policy wey go stop dis practice for official, academic, and professional settings.
According to di minister, anybody wey use ‘Dr’ based on honorary degree go face charges of academic fraud. Di government don declare say di unauthorized use of di prefix na criminal offence, and violators go face legal and administrative consequences.
Di National Universities Commission (NUC) don uncover say 32 institutions dey operate as honorary doctorate mills. Dese include unaccredited foreign universities, local professional bodies, and oda non-degree-awarding institutions wey dey sell titles for fee.
Di NUC Executive Secretary, Prof Abdullahi Ribadu, say di scale of abuse na staggering. Di commission don identify price tags attached to dese titles, and don plan to collaborate with law enforcement agencies for nationwide clampdown.
Di new guidelines include strict eligibility rules, wey bar serving public officials from receiving honorary degrees. Universities fit only award maximum of three honorary degrees per convocation, and no self-nomination go dey allowed.
Di policy don get mixed reaction. Many academics dey hail am as step to restore integrity. Prof. Ayo Olaoke from University of Ilorin say di ban long overdue and necessary to protect value of earned doctoral degrees.
Dr Chinyere Okoro of University of Nigeria, Nsukka, also back di minister. She say academics spend four to seven years for rigorous research before earning PhD, and honorary recipients wey use same prefix dey mislead public.
However, some honorary degree recipients dey oppose di policy. Emeka Obiakor, business leader, say di ban disrespects contributions to national development. He argue say honorary degrees na legitimate recognition from university senates.
Di NUC don also plan to publish yearly official register of legitimate honorary degree recipients and create central verification portal for employers and banks. Di government dey insist say only universities wey don graduate first set of earned PhD students fit confer honorary degrees.
