The Nigerian government has placed a ban on the award of honorary Doctorate degrees on all serving public officials across the Country.
The Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC), Prof. Abdullahi Ribadu, announced the decision on Friday while presenting the report of a Committee set up to investigate the conferment and misuse of honorary degrees in Nigerian universities.
Prof. Ribadu said the new policy is meant to restore sanity, dignity and academic integrity to the University system, noting that the practice had increasingly been abused and politicised by some political office holders and public figures.
He stressed that honorary degrees should be reserved strictly for individuals who have demonstrated genuine merit, made outstanding contributions to society, and shown exemplary records of national service, not simply those who hold public office.
The NUC Executive Secretary added that the Commission, in collaboration with relevant authorities, would begin strict enforcement of the directive to ensure full compliance across all tertiary institutions in Nigeria.
