By Adenekan Shogunle, fsi
When Nigeria’s Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, announced that recipients of honorary doctorates should no longer use the title “Dr.” in official settings, the reaction was immediate. Critics dismissed the policy as a trivial distraction from the nation’s systemic rot: millions of out-of-school children, collapsing infrastructure, and the mass production of unemployable graduates.
These concerns are valid, but the dismissal is shortsighted. The misuse of academic titles is not a distraction from the collapse of Nigerian education; it is a primary symptom, and a driver, of that collapse.
Over the years, anti-corruption agencies and regulatory institutions have also uncovered networks of unaccredited degree-awarding institutions operating within and outside Nigeria. The ICPC-NUC, through its University System Study And Review Report of 2012 and subsequent enforcement actions which led to the forced closure of 62 unaccredited academic degree awarding institutions in Nigeria, exposed deep-rooted abuses in the sector, including the activities of degree mills selling certificates and honorary titles for financial gain.
Nigeria’s educational decay did not begin with empty laboratories. It began with the erosion of respect for merit and intellectual discipline. A nation that fails to distinguish between earned excellence and purchased prestige eventually hollows out its institutions. In such an environment, restoring boundaries around academic titles is not pettiness. The Minister’s directive, approved by the Federal Executive Council in April, 2026 is therefore, an essential act of institutional hygiene.
THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN HONOUR AND SCHOLARSHIP
The phrase ‘honoris causa’ is Latin for “for the sake of honour.” Globally, these degrees are ceremonial recognitions of philanthropy or leadership. They are not academic qualifications. They do not involve research, peer review, or the rigorous defense of a thesis.
While the international standard dictates that recipients use the suffix “PhD (h.c.)” rather than the prefix “Dr.,” Nigerians have developed a social obsession with titles. Here, academic honours are often aggressively sought, publicly advertised, and socially weaponized. This creates a “credential theatre”, the performance of expertise without the discipline of it and that devalues the years of intellectual labor required to earn a genuine doctorate. When status can be negotiated or bought, the incentive for actual scholarship disappears.
A CULTURE OF MORAL AND INSTITUTIONAL CORROSION
The obsession for titles feeds a wider ecosystem of corruption that the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) continues to battle. The same culture that seeks unearned titles also fosters:
i. Fake universities and certificate racketeering
ii. Examination malpractice and plagiarism
iii. “Sorting” and the inflation of résumés.
iv. Predatory sexual exploitation for grades.
The link between a “title-hungry” society and campus safety is direct: when academic power is viewed as a badge of status rather than a symbol of discipline, it is easily abused.
This is why ICPC has continued to investigate and prosecute sexual harassment and abuse of power as corruption, and in collaboration with partners like the Gender Mobile Initiative, has pushed for dissemination and adoption of model anti-sexual harassment policies in educational institutions. Corruption in education is not merely financial; it is ethical and psychological.
RESTORING THE VALUE OF KNOWLEDGE
Critics are right: banning a prefix will not build a new classroom. However, meaningful reform must be holistic; addressing infrastructure, finance, and ethics simultaneously. We cannot fix the educational system while glorifying shortcuts.
A system where titles matter more than learning produces universities that function as ceremonial factories rather than centers of innovation.
TECHNOLOGY AS AN ENFORCEMENT TOOL: THE NERD PROJECT
Beyond policy, the Federal Government has deployed a powerful digital enforcement tool: the Nigeria Education Repository and Databank (NERD). This initiative is designed to end certificate fraud by assigning a National Credential Number (NCN) and QR code to every diploma and transcript issued in Nigeria.
By mandating that all academic reports be deposited into this central database, the NERD system ensures that expertise is a verifiable digital asset.
In fact, compliance with the NERD standard is now a mandatory prerequisite for NYSC mobilization, effectively closing the door on the era of “arrangee” qualifications. No NERD clearance means no NYSC mobilization.
It shows the government isn’t just banning titles but investing in technology to make fraud impossible.
ICPC’s FRONTLINE ENFORCEMENT
The necessity of such digital tracking is underscored by the ICPC’s enforcement activities. Acting on intelligence, the Commission has repeatedly stormed and dismantled fake NYSC orientation camps across the country. These operations have exposed networks of individuals masquerading as graduates, often using forged documents to infiltrate the national service scheme and civil service with disastrous consequences.
Combined with the forced closure of 62 unaccredited “degree mills,” these actions highlight a disturbing reality: without strict boundaries around titles and credentials, our national identity, productivity and security are at risk.
WHAT’S NEXT: FROM POLICY TO PARTICIPATION
The war against unearned titles and educational decay is a collective one. Banning prefixes in official settings is only effective if citizens, institutions, and regulatory bodies actively police the boundaries of academic integrity. To move from policy to lasting reform, the following actions are critical:
1. Verify Before You Celebrate
Before acknowledging an institution or a title, verify its legitimacy. The National Universities Commission (NUC) regularly publishes a list of illegal universities operating in Nigeria. If an institution is not on the NUC-approved list, its degrees, honorary or earned, carry no legal weight.
2. Report Degree Mills and Fraud
If you have information on “degree mills” selling certificates or individuals using forged credentials, report them directly to the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).
Online Petition: Submit a formal complaint via the ICPC Petition Portal.
Toll-Free Hotline: Call 0800-CALL-ICPC (0800-2255-4272) to report acts of corruption anonymously.
3. Break the Silence on Campus Abuse
To restore the moral foundation of our institutions, we must eliminate the culture of exploitation. Students and staff facing sexual harassment should leverage technology for safe, confidential reporting:
Campus Pal App: Download the Campus Pal App (developed by Gender Mobile Initiative in partnership with the ICPC) to report and track cases of harassment anonymously.
Direct Reporting: Contact the ICPC’s Anti-Sexual Harassment Unit for institutional intervention.
4. Demand Institutional Accountability
Academic institutions must lead by example. Universities should digitalize their records for ease of verification and strictly adhere to the NUC Guidelines on the award of honorary degrees.
The prefix “Dr.” should be a badge of discipline, not a commodity for sale. By using these reporting channels, every Nigerian can help ensure that academic titles, and the education they represent, mean something again.
CONCLUSION
The Minister’s policy is a return to global best practices. It raises a fundamental question: In a country battling institutional collapse, should academic titles still mean something?
If the answer is yes, then we must protect the sanctity of the process. The war against educational decay cannot stop at prefixes, but it must include them. Restoring integrity to the sector begins with the simple realization that scholarship cannot be gifted; it must be earned and verified.
-Adenekan Shogunle, fsi, is the ICPC Resident Anti-Corruption Commissioner for Edo State.
