OPEN PETITION ON THE ILLEGAL USE AND COMMERCIALIZATION OF ACADEMIC TITLES IN NIGERIA
To:
• The Executive Secretary, National Universities Commission (NUC)
• The Honourable Minister of Education
• The Chairman, House Committee on Education
• The Chairman, Senate Committee on Education
• The National Security Adviser
• The Inspector General of Police
From:
Coalition of Academics and Professors for Qualified use of Academic Titles (CAPQAT)
Convener: Prof. Adeyemi Johnson Ademowo
Introduction
Nigeria’s academic integrity is under siege. The reckless commercialization and illegal use of academic titles—particularly “Dr.” and “Professor”—by unqualified individuals is eroding public trust in our institutions, mocking genuine scholars, and promoting fraud in the knowledge economy. This menace, if unchecked, poses a grave threat to the reputation of Nigerian academia and the sanctity of higher education.
Across Africa and beyond, serious nations have taken decisive action: Ghana, Ethiopia, India, and Uganda have outlawed or strongly restricted the misuse of honorary doctorate titles. Yet, in Nigeria, the menace continues unchecked, aided by diploma mills in the Benin Republic, bible colleges, questionable “professional institutions,” and dubious foreign universities handing out so-called doctorates which recipients then misconstrue as licenses to prefix “Dr.” before their names.
Disturbing Trends
1. Illegal Use of the “Dr.” Title:
◦ Instances abound where recipients of honoris causa degrees, graduates of bible colleges, and individuals conferred with “doctorates” from unrecognized professional bodies now prefix “Dr.” before their names. Added to this are diploma mills abroad that market such titles to Nigerians, who then present them as earned doctorates. This is deceitful, misleading, and deeply corrosive to academic credibility.
2. Racketeering by Dubious Institutions:
◦ “Prowess University” and other unaccredited institutions in the Benin Republic have built a business empire around trading honorary doctorates, claiming same can be acquired with the possibility of using the “Dr.” title. This shameless exploitation of Nigeria’s weak enforcement mechanisms continues to tarnish the nation’s intellectual reputation.
3. Commercialization of the “Professor” Title:
◦ Disturbingly, an Abuja-based realtor is alleged to have illegally acquired and now parades himself as “Professor of Entrepreneurship,” claiming the title was “dashed” to him by an American university. Such audacity is not only fraudulent but also dangerously misleading to the Nigerian public. He is not alone. Others have been alleged to parade similar titles from the so-called American University of Business and Social Sciences (AUBSS) and related unrecognized bodies.
Relevant Legal Provisions in Nigeria
Nigeria already has sufficient laws to address these abuses:
• Criminal Code Act (Cap. C38, S463): Criminalizes falsification or misrepresentation of academic credentials, prescribing up to 14 years imprisonment or a ₦500,000 fine.
• NUC Act (1974): Proscribes misrepresentation of qualifications, with penalties of up to ₦1 million in fines.
• Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria Act (1993): Criminalizes unauthorized use of academic titles, prescribing up to 2 years imprisonment or a ₦200,000 fine.
The issue is therefore not absence of law but the glaring absence of enforcement.
Our Demands
We, the undersigned, call on the Nigerian government and its agencies to:
1. Enforce Existing Laws against illegal use of “Dr.” and “Prof.” titles. Prosecute offenders under the Criminal Code, NUC Act, and TRCN Act.
2. Blacklist and Ban Dubious Institutions such as Prowess University and AUBSS, among others, from operating in Nigeria or associating with Nigerian citizens.
3. Publicly Clarify that honorary doctorates, bible college degrees, and professional body “doctorates” are symbolic recognitions—not academic qualifications—and do not confer the right to prefix “Dr.”
4. Launch a Nationwide Awareness Campaign to educate the public and media on the proper use of academic titles.
5. Institute a Joint Task Force involving the NUC, Ministry of Education, DSS, and Police to monitor and prosecute cases of academic title fraud.
Conclusion
The dignity of Nigeria’s higher education is at stake. Every unqualified “Dr.” or fake “Professor” diminishes the sweat, rigor, and intellectual labour of those who have genuinely earned these distinctions. Enough is enough.
We therefore demand urgent and decisive action. Let scapegoats be made of those mischievously deceiving the public with criminalized titles. Only then can Nigeria reclaim the integrity of its academia.
Signed:
Prof. Adeyemi Johnson Ademowo
Convener, CAPQAT
Coalition of Academics and Professors for Qualified use of Academic Titles
08121210824, yemiademowo@gmail.com.