FG Bans Varsities from Awarding Honorary Doctorate Degrees to Serving Politicians

The Federal Government has declared a nationwide crackdown on the abuse of honorary doctorate degrees, explicitly prohibiting universities from awarding the titles to sitting political office holders.The National Universities Commission (NUC) also revealed that some individuals are paying as much as N50 million to procure the honorary degrees from willing institutions.Executive Secretary of the NUC, Prof. Abdullahi Yusuf Ribadu, announced the new policy on Friday while receiving the report of a special committee set up to investigate the misuse and commercialisation of honorary doctorates in Nigeria.“The era of indiscriminate conferment is over,” Prof. Ribadu declared, warning that any university found violating the ban or engaging in the sale of honorary degrees will face severe sanctions.The committee’s report, submitted after months of investigation, exposed widespread monetisation of the awards and their exploitation by recipients for undue prestige and political advantage.Further details and the full implementation guidelines are expected to be released in the coming days.

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