Investigation questions Nigerian university official’s professorial title
Premium Times reports that Anthony Kila, pro-chancellor of Michael and Cecilia Ibru University, has no verified professorial award from a recognised academic institution. Kila says a UK-based organisation granted him the title, but the investigation found no evidence the organisation exists and the EU said he was not listed in its Jean Monnet directory.
An investigation by PREMIUM TIMES has questioned the academic title used publicly by Anthony Kila, the pro-chancellor of Michael and Cecilia Ibru University in Nigeria. Kila, appointed to the university’s governing council leadership in August 2025, has been described in institutional profiles and media interviews as a professor and a “Jean Monnet Professor of Strategy and Development”. PREMIUM TIMES reported that it found no evidence that a recognised academic institution had awarded him the rank.
Kila told the newspaper that the European Centre for Advanced and Professional Studies, which he said was based in Cambridge in the United Kingdom, awarded him the professorship in 2016. The investigation said searches of UK Companies House, Nigeria’s Corporate Affairs Commission and online sources found no website, address, registration record or other evidence of the institution. The newspaper also examined the claim that Kila held a Jean Monnet title.
The Jean Monnet programme is associated with European Union initiatives supporting teaching, research and debate on European integration. The European Education and Culture Executive Agency told PREMIUM TIMES that Kila did not appear in its directory as a project coordinator during the period for which public information was available. Jean-Marc Trouille, a professor and co-chair of the AfriquEurope Jean Monnet Network, told the newspaper that it was “highly unlikely” Kila held a Jean Monnet Chair award.
He said the only Jean Monnet module in Nigeria known to him was at the University of Lagos, where Kila was not listed as part of the team. The investigation said Kila later confirmed that he was not associated with the Jean Monnet actions but did not explain how he came to use the description. It also said there was no evidence he had taught at a university in Nigeria or abroad.
Nigeria’s National Universities Commission says professorship normally requires appropriate academic qualifications, teaching and research experience, publications, postgraduate supervision and contributions to knowledge. The university spokesperson told the newspaper that it had no evidence Kila was not a professor, but declined to provide a detailed response.
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