DEBORAH TOLU-KOLAWOLE writes on how several unaccredited universities have turned Nigerians desperate for honorary degree awards into cash cows
Despite questions about their legality, prominent Nigerian politicians, celebrities, and clerics have continued to bag honourary degrees popularly referred to as ‘honoris causa’ from unaccredited universities or degree mills.
Investigations by our correspondent show that the degrees are not awarded to the recipients based on their contributions to national or human development. The awards are literally paid for by the recipients or their sponsors.
This is happening even though the National Universities Commission, the Federal Government agency that accredits universities and other degree-awarding institutions, has made several publications warning people about the diploma mills. Recently, the NUC published a list of 18 foreign degree mills operating in Nigeria following an investigation by Daily Nigerian into the fraudulent issuance of a degree certificate by Ecole Superieure de Gestion et de Technologies, ESGT, Cotonou, Benin Republic.
The investigation led to the Federal Government suspending the verification of degree certificates from schools in Benin, Togo, Uganda, among others. The former Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, disclosed during a ministerial press briefing on his one-year achievements in the ministry, in Abuja, that individuals with fake degrees will be flushed out of the system.
He said, “The Federal Government has directed that the Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation issue a circular to flush out anybody with fake certificates from these institutions.
“In Togo, there are three universities that are officially approved and licensed to offer degree courses and in Benin Republic, we have five institutions licensed for degree courses.”
The schools listed by the NUC as illegal are the University of Applied Sciences & Management, Port Novo, Republic of Benin, or any of its other campuses in Nigeria; Volta University College, Ho, Volta Region, Ghana, or any of its other campuses in Nigeria; the International University, Missouri, USA, Kano, and Lagos Study Centres, or any of its campuses in Nigeria and the Columbus University, United Kingdom operating anywhere in Nigeria.
The list also included Tiu International University, UK; Pebbles University, UK, operating anywhere in Nigeria; London External Studies UK operating anywhere in Nigeria; Pilgrims University operating anywhere in Nigeria; West African Christian University operating anywhere in Nigeria; EC-Council University, USA, Ikeja, Lagos Study Centre and Concept College/Universities (London) Ilorin or any of its campuses in Nigeria.
Others are Houdegbe North American University campuses in Nigeria; Irish University Business School London, operating anywhere in Nigeria; University of Education, Winneba Ghana, operating anywhere in Nigeria; Cape Coast University, Ghana, operating anywhere in Nigeria; African University Cooperative Development, Cotonou, Benin Republic, operating anywhere in Nigeria; Pacific Western University, Denver, Colorado, Owerri Study Centre and Evangel University of America & Chudick Management Academic, Lagos.
Following this announcement, a popular actor, Yemi Solade, questioned the integrity of the honorary doctorates by some Nigerian celebrities obtained from some of the universities in the countries affected. The actor posed his question via an Instagram post on August 25, 2024, asking the Minister of Education, Prof Tahir Mamman, what would happen to the honorary degrees awarded to some celebrities.
His post read, “What happens To ALL The ABSURD doctorate degrees splashed On Nigerian celebs since FG has pronounced that degrees Acquired From Benin Republic Since 2017 Are INVALID?”
Although honourary degrees follow different criteria and are meant to recognise individuals who have contributed to the growth of their chosen careers and society at large, the flagging of these schools as ‘degree mills’ raises questions about the integrity of such awards.
The Committee of Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian Universities, which is understandably worried by the development, lamented that the number of recipients of honourary degrees had become uncontrollably high, “ranging from 1-20 in a single convocation ceremony and, at times, presented in absentia to surrogates.”
In 2012, CVCNU came up with a guideline known as the Keffi Declaration to check the indiscriminate award of honourary degrees. The declaration urged universities to not confer honorary degrees on individuals holding political office, as a matter of policy. Rather, they should be awarded to professionals who have made significant contributions to societal development or made groundbreaking discoveries in invention and innovation.
The then Secretary-General of the association and former Vice-Chancellor of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Professor Michael Faborode, cautioned that it “is unconventional and, therefore, not allowed” for honourary degree awardees to use the title ‘Dr’ meant for academic PhD holders.
Sadly, the unethical tradition of awarding honourary PhDs has continued, prompting President Bola Tinubu to raise the alarm recently. The President, who was represented by the acting Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission, Chris Jibreel-Maiyaki, at the Federal University of Lafia convocation ceremony on February 10, 2024, warned universities against awarding honourary doctorates, maintaining that the practice undermines the core values of academic integrity and must be discontinued.
“Universities’ management and the general environments of teaching and learning must model the highest standard of integrity, probity and moral discipline.
‘’In this connection, I must draw your attention to the tendency of some institutions to devalue the quality of their degrees by giving out honourary doctorate degrees indiscriminately against the common university community practice,” Tinubu said.
Aside from young Nigerians holding first-degree certificates obtained from these degree mills, investigations indicate that some Nigerian policymakers and professionals have affiliations with some of these schools for their honourary doctorate degrees.
Meanwhile, some prominet Nigerians have received honorary doctorate decrees. Some of them appear to merit the degrees following their contributions to growth and development of the country.
For example, in October 2020, the African Institute of Science, Administration and Commercial Studies, located in Lome, Togo, honoured the Zamfara State Governor, Bello Matawalle, with an honourary PhD.
According to Yusuf Gusau, a former media aide to Matawalle, now the Minister of Defence, the award recognised his principal’s achievements in leadership and administration.
In June 2022, Ikechukwu Ogbonna, a Nollywood actor, was recognised with an honourary doctorate in arts, leadership and development by the Institut Supérieur De Management Et De Technologie (ISMT St Salomon University). Following the recognition, the actor introduced himself as “Dr (Hon) Ikechukwu Mitchel Ogbonna” on his verified Instagram handle.
Similarly, another popular musician, Peter Okoye, also holds an honourary degree from Escae Benin University, which was awarded to him in 2022. The school described the celebrity hip-hop artiste as “a singer, writer, dancer, and director; better known as one half of the African pop duo, P-Square, with more than 100 million views on YouTube” on its website. He described the school as a “distinguished educational institution” in an X post where he published the news of the award.
In 2017, Shehu Sani, a former senator from Kaduna Central Senatorial District, became an honoree of Ecotes University. Pictures from the ceremony were published on the school’s official Facebook page.
A filmmaker, Michael Ezuruonye, also received a degree from ESTAM University, Seme Campus, Republic of Benin. Out of excitement, he shared the news on his Instagram page, where he described himself as Dr Michael Ezuruonye while appreciating his fans for their support.
Findings show that over 50 prominent Nigerians have bagged honourary doctorates from several unaccredited universities in the United States.
However, this may not be said of other honorary awards to some Nigerians.
Findings by our correspondent revealed that a particular university, Prowess University Delaware, in affiliation with its Nigerian campus headed by Professor Eze Nwaubia, awarded over 50 honorary doctorates to Nigerians alone within the last year.
Investigations by our correspondent, however, revealed that the university is not licensed to operate in Nigeria nor is it accredited by the United States of America.
The university’s website says, “Prowess University or any of its degree programs are not accredited by an accrediting agency recognized by the United States Department of Education. However, Prowess University’s degree programs are accredited by Independent Private Accreditation agencies for Quality Assurance as a sign of credibility and quality. It means that the university is advancing, developing, and improving its programs, becoming more efficient, and focused on student welfare.”
However, prominent Nigerians such as actress, Nancy Isime; comedienne Ashmusty; Provost, Evergreen College of Management, Sciences, Ore, Ondo, Gbeminiyi Oladipo; General Overseer, Clofam Prayer City, Ibadan, Victor Omoyele; Founder, Urban Security, Samuel Adebola; Executive Vice President & Group Chief Marketing and Communications Officer, Interswitch Group, Cherry Eromosele; Group Managing Director, Next Gear Homes, Olushola Owomoyela; Managing Director, Gaftex Consult Ltd, Eunice Emmanuel, among others, have been decorated with honorary doctorate degrees.
Inquiries sent to the institution were yet to be replied to as of the time of filing this report.
How London Graduate School awards honourary degrees
Findings by our correspondent revealed that the London Graduate School, an online academic institution affiliated with the Commonwealth University, mandates individuals to pay thousands of dollars for a seminar before they are awarded honourary doctorates. Both institutions have their head office at the Mayfair Point 34, South Molton Street in London and are in a validated partnership, where students can undertake a programme or study at one institution and upon completion, receive a degree award conferred by the partner university.
Presently on the website of the institution, it fixed multiple leadership summits in Dubai, Kigali, Lagos, and Abuja, among others.
The Dubai summit, which is expected to hold between December 16-17, will cost $4,500; the Lagos summit, which will hold on November 28, 2024, costs $2,000. As an addendum to the summit, the institution noted that it has the right of “ Incorporation under the laws of the Republic of Panama to grant honourary degree awards to deserving candidates.”
It noted that interested candidates must be “Persons of Integrity; persons who have contributed in any way to the development of their community in a significant manner; Successful persons in business, politics or any field of human endeavour; Persons who are willing to support the philosophy of life- long learning and distance learning by contributing to the Endowment Fund of the Commonwealth University.”
Speaking with our correspondent, the state chairman, Academic Staff Union of Universities, Niger State, Prof. Gbolahan Bolarin, asserted that honourary doctorates do not equal PhDs.
“Honourary one is awarded mostly based on contributions to the university community or nation while PhD is earned through research i.e purely academics. The two are different and cannot be said to be the same. As the name implies, one is just an honour while the other is a result of hard work.”
When asked if recipients of honourary doctorates can affix PhDs to their names, he said, “ No, except if the person has earned a PhD before the award of the honourary one.”
Bolarin noted that Nigerians’ love for titles has continued to drive the growth of the activities of these illegal universities.
“You need to understand that the average Nigerian loves titles. Everyone wants to be addressed as a doctor or deacon or engineer or something so this has continued to drive the activities of these individuals.
‘’When you dig further, you will find out that many of them pay for these so-called awards; the awards are not given for free. In our institution, for instance, we don’t just give out honourary doctorates. It is given to those who duly merit it and you don’t have to pay the university for this,’’ he stated.
Speaking further, he noted, ‘’But for these so-called centres who award these doctorates, you will see that the receiver of the award will even have to pay these centres.
“Also the government will find a way to regulate them. It’s the same thing that happened with the undergraduates who go to Benin, Togo and the like. You see people go to these countries and come back with degrees written in French and some of them can’t even speak French. Of what use is that? It is quite worrisome and something must be done about it. Also, people with those kinds of degrees cannot add PhD to their names; it is illegal.”
A former Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the University of Uyo, Prof Ini Uko, described the awards as fraudulent.
“Most of these pastors, politicians and celebrities go after these degrees because they simply want to be addressed as ‘Drs’. When you dig in further, you realize that some of these degrees are fraudulently awarded.
‘’Yes, we have those who are awarded to deserving individuals based on their contributions to the society but then most of the degrees awarded are those that have been purchased by money. This needs to be regulated.”
The Head of Programmes, Reform Education, Nigeria, Ayodamola Oluwatoyin, questioned the motive behind the doctorate degrees.
“It is now a full-blown pandemic and you start to ask yourself the real motive behind the reason why people patronize these degree mills. Is it just because they want to be addressed as doctors because you even see those that you think should know better but you still see them with these degree mills,” he submitted.
Our correspondent could not reach the Executive Secretary of the NUC, Jibreel-Maiyaki, on ways in which the award of honourary degrees could be regulated as he didn’t respond to calls and a text message sent to his phone as at the time of filing this report.
