The National Universities Commission (NUC) has sanctioned two Nigerian universities for violating its guidelines on the award of honorary doctorate degrees, warning institutions against the indiscriminate conferment and misuse of the titles.
The Executive Secretary of the commission, Prof. Abdullahi Ribadu, disclosed this on Tuesday at the opening of the 2026 NUC retreat with vice-chancellors in Abuja. He did not identify the affected institutions or disclose the penalties imposed.
“The Commission under my leadership has continued to strengthen its operational guidelines towards ensuring quality and relevance of university education, including the development of new guidelines for the award and use of honorary doctorate degrees with sanctions for defaulting universities. Already, we have sanctioned two universities,” Ribadu said.
The action follows a warning issued by the commission in February against the indiscriminate conferment of honorary doctorates and the misuse of the titles by recipients.
The latest sanctions come as the regulator seeks to strengthen governance, compliance and accountability across the Nigerian University System.
At the retreat, Ribadu urged university leaders to embrace ethical leadership, improve institutional governance and build strategic partnerships to raise the quality and global competitiveness of Nigerian universities.
He also highlighted the deployment of the e-NUC platform to automate the commission’s operations, the development of a National Artificial Intelligence Roadmap and Policy Framework, and the introduction of accreditation software intended to improve transparency and efficiency.
Ribadu called on universities to do more to commercialise research findings, encouraging institutions to turn discoveries into practical solutions, marketable products and innovations that address national development needs.
Declaring the retreat open, the Minister of State for Education, Prof. Suwaiba Ahmad, said universities needed policies to address the growing influence of artificial intelligence and other technologies, particularly in academic integrity, ethics, data protection and responsible technology use.
She said the challenges facing higher education required collaboration between the NUC, university proprietors, governing councils, senates, staff, students, the private sector and development partners.
“The challenges confronting higher education cannot be fully addressed through isolated institutional efforts or regulatory directives alone,” Ahmad said, calling for stronger compliance with regulatory requirements.
She urged vice-chancellors to uphold transparency, accountability and due process in financial management, procurement, recruitment, promotion, admissions and examinations.
Ahmad also said the retreat should produce practical commitments rather than end with discussions alone. She backed a communiqué setting out agreed actions, alongside monitoring and feedback mechanisms to track implementation.
The two-day meeting, themed “Enhancing Regulatory Compliance, Governance, Leadership, and Partnership in the Nigerian University System”, brought together vice-chancellors, education-sector partners and NUC officials to discuss challenges facing university education.
The event also featured the unveiling of a Benchmark Statement on Student Support Facilities and Services for Nigerian Universities, aimed at improving the quality and provision of support services for students.
In separate goodwill messages, representatives of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) and the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) called for stronger collaboration among education agencies to improve university governance and development.
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