The Anthony Kila affair: How fake titles captured a university and what it says about Nigeria, By Austin Aigbe

A true Professor in Nigeria spends at least 10-15 years as Assistant Lecturer, Lecturer II, Lecturer I, Senior Lecturer, Reader, then Professor. He publishes, survives external assessment, and defends his work before the university Senate. It is brutal. Then someone prints a certificate from a centre he registered himself and jumps the queue… That is theft. Theft of honour, theft of space, theft of the future of young scholars.

On the 3rd of October, Premium Times did what our universities, our regulatory agencies, and our studios failed to do: It asked a simple question: Professor of where, sir?

The man in question is Anthony Kila. Until the PT’s investigation, he was everywhere. Arise TV called him Professor. Channels TV called him Professor. Newspapers quoted him as Professor of Political Science in one edition, and Jean Monnet Professor of Strategy and Development in another. In August 2025, he was appointed Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the Governing Council of Michael and Cecilia Ibru University (MCIU), Agbarha-Otor, Delta State. The chair of a council that controls the finance, assets, policies and future of a university.

The investigation found what many may have long suspected: no evidence that any recognised university in Nigeria or abroad ever promoted him as Professor. When confronted, Mr Kila said the European Centre for Advanced and Professional Studies (ECAPS), Cambridge, UK, awarded his professorship in 2016.

PT searched UK Companies House. Nothing. Searched the Corporate Affairs Commission Nigeria. Nothing. Searched the internet for a website, a building, a single alumnus. Nothing. ECAPS exists only in Mr Kila’s profile and on the websites of CIAPS and MCIU. Even the Jean Monnet title collapsed. The European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA) in Brussels, which administers the EU’s Jean Monnet Actions, confirmed that Mr Kila has not been listed as a Jean Monnet coordinator since 2015.

And what did MCIU say? A man who called himself spokesperson, but refused to give his name, said: “We don’t debate issues; we will respond when we see the article.”

That response is the real scandal.

I. The Anatomy of Impersonation

I have spent years working on democracy and governance issues. What I have learnt is that our democratic regression is not only about ballot boxes. It is about the collapse of gatekeeping. When gatekeepers fail, impersonators and manipulators walk in.

Why would a man fake a professorial title? In Nigeria, the title is currency.

The title is how you get on television as an “expert” without peer review. The title is how you get appointed Pro-Chancellor without a verifiable academic career. The title is how you charge higher fees as a consultant advising the government and the private sector. In a country where we have institutionalised respect for big men, “Professor” is an ATM card.

Where was the NUC verification before MCIU appointed a Pro-Chancellor? The law says the Pro-Chancellor chairs the council that approves Vice-Chancellor appointments, approves budgets, and holds the university in trust. If that chair himself has questionable credentials, what does the person approve?

This is not new. In 2024, there was a viral list naming 100 professors in Nigeria universities as fake. A claim the National Universities Commission (NUC) disowned, though. We laughed for a week and moved on.

In December 2023, Umar Audu, an undercover investigative journalist, exposed how a syndicate allowed him to acquire a Bachelor of Science degree in Mass Communication from a Cotonou university in just six weeks. He did this without attending a single class or writing an exam. He then successfully used the fake degree to enrol in Nigeria’s mandatory National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme.

Why is there a market for fake professorships?

Because we have a society that values the prefix more than the publication.

A true Professor in Nigeria spends at least 10-15 years as Assistant Lecturer, Lecturer II, Lecturer I, Senior Lecturer, Reader, then Professor. He publishes, survives external assessment, and defends his work before the university Senate. It is brutal. Then someone prints a certificate from a centre he registered himself and jumps the queue.

That is theft. Theft of honour, theft of space, theft of the future of young scholars.

II. Institutional Failure Is the Throughline

I have argued repeatedly that Nigeria’s crisis is institutional failure. The Kila affair proves it.

Where was the NUC verification before MCIU appointed a Pro-Chancellor? The law says the Pro-Chancellor chairs the council that approves Vice-Chancellor appointments, approves budgets, and holds the university in trust. If that chair himself has questionable credentials, what does the person approve?

Where was media verification? Our television stations have become title-laundering machines. A guest appears once as Professor, no researcher checks his CV, and the title sticks. The danger is that this same man advises the public on the economy, on governance, on national strategy.

We have seen this before. In the 37 miners who died in NSCDC custody in Minna (September 2026), I demanded an independent probe because internal investigations cannot produce justice. The same principle applies here. MCIU cannot investigate itself. We need an independent probe by NUC, with public disclosure of Mr Kila’s appointment file, his CV submitted, and the minutes of the Council meeting that appointed him.

…citizens must organise to defend standards. Democracy dies not only when votes are rigged, but when titles are rigged. Imagine fake professors serving as State Collation Officers in the 2027 polls. When we allow fake professors to lead real universities, we teach our young people that merit does not matter, packaging does.

III. What Must Happen Now

First, Mr Kila owes Nigerians a full, verifiable disclosure. Not a press statement. Publish your PhD work, where you defended it, your promotion letters, your Google Scholar page, et al.

Second, the MCIU Governing Council must suspend the Pro-Chancellor appointment pending verification, and publish its due diligence process.

Third, NUC must create a public, searchable register of all professors in Nigerian universities, as done elsewhere. If you claim a Professor or even a PhD in Nigeria, any citizen should be able to verify you in 30 seconds.

Fourth, the Broadcasting Organisation of Nigeria must require stations to verify academic titles before on-screen identification. This is global good practice.

Finally, citizens must organise to defend standards. Democracy dies not only when votes are rigged, but when titles are rigged. Imagine fake professors serving as State Collation Officers in the 2027 polls. When we allow fake professors to lead real universities, we teach our young people that merit does not matter, packaging does.

The Kila affair is not about one man. It is about a country that must decide: do we want real expertise or performed expertise? In 2027, as we go to another election, the same question will be on the ballot.

The answer must be substance over title.

Austin Aigbe is Advocacy Officer, West Africa Democracy Solidarity Network and an election observer. He writes from Abuja.