In August 2025, a DUBAWA investigation uncovered how Nigerian public figures were using the “Dr” prefix to mislead the public after receiving honorary doctorate awards.
At the time, our findings established that Nigeria had no legal position or official law to stop anyone from using honorary titles to claim academic clout.
Following that report, DUBAWA engaged the National Universities Commission (NUC) through a formal letter detailing our findings and the dangers of this legal loophole.
In February 2026, six months later, the NUC, in response, issued its first-ever comprehensive guidelines. These guidelines sought to regulate the award and its use by restricting honorary doctorate recipients from further use of the “Dr” prefix.
On May 6 2026, the Federal Government, through the Minister of Education and the Federal Executive Council (FEC), finalised this process with an official ban on honorary degree holders prefixing “Dr” to their names.
Here are four key clarifications about the new order and its implications for Nigerians.
- Are NUC’s guidelines and the FG ban legally binding?
While this new policy is not yet an “Act,” it is legally binding. For example, the NUC derives its powers from the NUC Act, now cited as Chapter N81 of the Laws of the Federation of Nigeria (LFN) 2004.
This Act gives the NUC the authority to set minimum standards for the university system. Therefore, when a body such as the NUC issues a directive under its parent act, it becomes legally enforceable against all institutions it supervises.
- You can be prosecuted for misrepresentation
Because the government has now taken an official stance, using the “Dr” prefix without an earned PhD is no longer just an unintentional mistake. Rather, it is now framed as academic “misrepresentation.”
According to the Minister of Education, Olatunji Alausa, anyone presenting themselves with a title they do not hold to gain public trust or professional advantage will be treated as a fraud.
This means citizens can be prosecuted under the Criminal Code Act for impersonation if caught.
- The “Honoris Causa” must be explicit
The ban does not mean honorary degrees are gone. What actually happened is that the government adopted the standard recommended by academics in DUBAWA’s earlier publication. That is, recipients must fully disclose their titles.
Instead of “Dr” plus name, the correct and only legal format is now “(name) D.Sc. (Honoris Causa)” or “LL.D. (Hon. name).”
For example, instead of writing Dr Korede Kunle, it will now be Korede Kunle (Doctor of Science, Honoris Causa) or Korede Kunle D.Sci (Honoris Causa).
This, the minister said, will make it easy for the public to immediately distinguish between academic rigour and honorary recognition.
- Universities are now gatekeepers
Under the May 2026 directive, universities are now mandated to monitor their awardees.
If an institution allows its honorary recipients to carelessly use the “Dr” prefix in official ceremonies or publications, that university will face sanctions from the NUC.
The ministry has further barred “universities without active PhD-awarding programmes from conferring honorary degrees.”
Likewise, Nigerian universities can only confer four types of honorary degrees: Doctor of Laws (LL.D), Doctor of Letters (D.Lit), Doctor of Science (D.Sc), and Doctor of Humanities (D.Arts).