A cross-section of Nigerian academics has warned against what they described as the rampant misuse and commercialisation of academic titles in the country, particularly “Dr” and “Professor,” saying the trend is eroding the integrity of the nation’s higher education system.
Lucas noted that while honorary degrees were awarded in other countries, recipients rarely used them as academic prefixes.
“Our problem in this country is that most Nigerians like to be addressed with titles, whether they merit them or not. It is now common to see people calling themselves Engineer, Pharmacist, Surveyor, Architect, Pastor, among others.
“In England, where I studied, many people have been awarded honorary doctorate degrees, and they never used them with their names. This is not the case in Nigeria, where even semi-illiterate artistes parade themselves as doctors or professors,” he said.
Lucas also slammed the authorities of universities for conferment of honorary doctorate degrees on “undeserving Nigerians who donated huge money to their universities.”
“Without mincing words, I can boldly say that the authorities in our universities contributed to this sordid mess by conferring honorary doctorate degrees on many undeserving Nigerians who donated huge amounts of money to their universities. Immediately, these people got these degrees, and they started using the prefix ‘Dr’ with their names.
“Equally depressing is the debasement of the title of Professor by one or two universities in the past in our country. These universities conferred professorship on businesswomen who had never taught a single course in the university, not to mention writing an acclaimed research paper.
“I worry that all things bright and beautiful elsewhere are debased in Nigeria. I appeal to the Federal Government to stop this debasement of our educational system,” Lucas added.
Also speaking, a senior lecturer at Lead City University, Ibadan, Dr Bayo Busari, said the abuse of titles was fuelled by a societal obsession with status symbols.
Busari said, “It is really worrisome that we have people who are pretenders to academic titles, particularly PhD (honoris causa). I call them pretenders because the majority of them went out of their way to court this award so that they flaunt it as part of the manifestation of our craze for meaningless titles.
“Interestingly, they are glamourised by a society that fails to distinguish between a hard-earned doctoral degree and one acquired off the shelf.
“However, there are a few distinguished Nigerians who are deserving of this honour. Still, a line must be drawn between what is obtained through academic rigour and that has been awarded through certain, but not academic, considerations.”
“To curb abuse, it is important that an awarding institution of a PhD, honoris causa, spells out the conditions of use of such honorary titles. Where there is an observable infringement of the conditions for use, the management of the institution should be courageous enough to withdraw such honour. Where this happens, it will send the right message to others to guide against misuse,” he added.
Busari also decried the role of universities in conferring honorary doctorates on wealthy donors and even awarding professorial titles to undeserving recipients, warning that financial considerations were undermining integrity.
“More importantly, awarding institutions should place integrity and respect above financial and other extraneous considerations in the selection of recipients for honoris causa, to build dignity around the honour and make it achieve the primary intended purpose for the institution of the honour,” he said.
In a related development, a group of scholars under the aegis of the Coalition of Academics and Professors for Qualified Use of Academic Titles also lamented that unqualified individuals, diploma mills and some universities had turned the revered titles into commodities for sale.
The coalition, in a petition signed by its convener, Prof. Adeyemi Ademowo, described the development as a national embarrassment and a grave threat to the reputation of Nigerian academia and the sanctity of higher education.
“Nigeria’s academic integrity is under siege. The reckless commercialisation 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,” the petition read.
The group accused unaccredited institutions in neighbouring countries of trading honorary doctorates to Nigerians, who then return to prefix “Dr” to their names, while some professionals and businessmen allegedly parade themselves as “professors” based on affiliations with unrecognised foreign bodies.
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