How Anthony Kila falsified all his academic qualifications – from Bachelor’s to Doctorate

Past faking his professorship, Anthony Kila, the now-suspended Professional-Chancellor of Michael and Cecilia Ibru College (MCIU), additionally falsified his educational data, PREMIUM TIMES can now record.

The PREMIUM TIMES investigation that revealed him as a pretend professor surprised Nigerians and many of us international, together with those that ceaselessly watch him on tv, concentrate to him at the radio, and browse him in newspapers pontificating concerning the want for honesty and transparency in governance and in private and non-private lives.

Many puzzled how he controlled to put on the faux educational rank for greater than a decade with out suspicion. Others puzzled why he didn’t stick with a ‘Dr’ name, given the PhD they believed he had.

Then again, this 2d a part of a five-month investigation into Mr Kila’s credentials has now printed that he additionally falsified the Bachelor’s, grasp’s, and doctorate levels he claimed to have bought from a couple of universities in the UK and Italy. This revelation has raised severe questions on whether or not he attended and finished any post-secondary establishment in any respect.

Mr Kila informed our reporter he earned a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Vintage Research from Università in line with Stranieri, Italy, in 1989, adopted through a Grasp of Arts (MA) in Eu Research from the similar establishment in 1991.

He additionally claimed a Postgraduate Degree (PGD) in Media and Communique from the College of Essex in 1992 and a Grasp of Science (MSc) in World Banking and Finance from Town College London (now Town St George’s, College of London) in 1994.

As well as, Mr Kila claimed a Physician of Philosophy (PhD) in Political Financial system from the College of Perugia in 1997, adopted through a Grasp of Trade Management (MBA) from Aston College, Birmingham, in 2002.

He additionally claimed he earned a Postgraduate Certificates in Upper Schooling (PGCE) from Cambridge in 2006 and a Grasp of Rules (LLM) from the similar establishment in 2009.

However PREMIUM TIMES can now record that Mr Kila’s age-old claims are false. Those educational credentials, identical to his professorship, had been all made up.

Whilst some universities contacted through this newspaper disowned him outright, others stated they don’t be offering the programmes that can have yielded the certificate he claimed to have bought.

When introduced with our findings this week, Mr Kila stated he was once nonetheless collecting his educational data and subsequently not able to offer proof of those levels.

“I’m lately hanging in combination my educational {and professional} paperwork, and they are going to be in a position quickly,” he informed our reporter by way of electronic mail.

The faux professorship

This newspaper’s enquiry into Mr Kila’s educational credentials started 5 months in the past with a probe into his professorship, a rank he publicly claimed for a few years.

He informed our reporter that the Eu Centre for Complicated and Skilled Research (ECAPS) made him a professor and a Jean Monnet Professor of Technique and Building in 2016. However this newspaper discovered that the establishment does no longer exist.

The Eu Schooling and Tradition Government Company (EACEA), which administers the Jean Monnet movements, additionally disowned his claimed Jean Monnet Professorship.

Days after the PREMIUM TIMES exposé, the Michael and Cecilia Ibru College (MCIU) suspended him as pro-chancellor, a task he has held since August 2025.

Scrutinising Mr Kila’s educational {qualifications}

In Would possibly, after our investigation flagged Mr Kila’s tutorial and professorial credentials, PREMIUM TIMES reached out to him and asked a complete Curriculum Vitae (CV) checklist his establishments and {qualifications}, in addition to the puts he has labored over time.

Mr Kila referred our reporter to his profile at the website online of the Commonwealth Institute of Complicated and Skilled Research (CIAPS), an organisation he controls. MCIU additionally revealed the profile on its website online, then removed it after our investigation uncovered Mr Kila’s faux professorship.

The profile didn’t state which colleges he attended or the {qualifications} he bought. It indexed a number of {qualifications}, together with an LLM, an MBA, an MSc, a PhD, a PGD, and a PGCE.

“Anthony studied in Cambridge, London, Perugia, and Suffolk. He graduated with a first class diploma in political financial system and later specialized in political anthropology. He has taught in quite a lot of faculties and universities in Cambridge, Ipswich, Lecce, London, Perugia, and Siena,” the profile learn.

The reporter then contacted Mr Kila and requested him to proportion his detailed curriculum vitae so PREMIUM TIMES may produce an in depth profile. He in part obliged, in all probability salivating on the prospect of a promotional article about him on this newspaper.

Mr Kila’s claimed levels

One Thursday morning in Would possibly, Mr Kila despatched an inventory of establishments he claimed to have attended and the {qualifications} he bought from each and every.

Within the transient resume he shared, Mr Kila indexed a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Vintage Research from Università in line with Stranieri, Italy, in 1989, adopted through a Grasp of Arts (MA) in Eu Research from the similar establishment in 1991.

He claimed a Postgraduate Degree (PGDip) in Media and Communique from the College of Essex in 1992 and a Grasp of Science (MSc) in World Banking and Finance from Town College London (now City St George’s, University of London) in 1994.

In step with the checklist, he additionally bought a Physician of Philosophy (PhD) in Political Financial system from the College of Perugia in 1997, adopted through a Grasp of Trade Management (MBA) from Aston College, Birmingham, in 2002.

He additionally claimed a Postgraduate Certificates in Upper Schooling (PGCE) from Cambridge in 2006 and a Grasp of Rules (LLM) from Cambridge in 2009.

Discrepancies

This newspaper instantly seen that the resume he shared contradicted his public profile.

As an example, he claimed to have graduated with a first class diploma in political financial system and later specialized in political anthropology. However the resume he shared didn’t point out any firstclass diploma or any first diploma in political financial system. As an alternative, the resume indexed his first diploma as BA Vintage Research from Università in line with Stranieri, Perugia, Italy.

So, we set out to make sure the levels from each and every college, emailing each and every establishment to substantiate whether or not he attended and graduated with the levels he claimed.

First Roadblock: Information Privateness Legislation

However the Basic Information Coverage Law (GDPR) in the United Kingdom and Europe changed into a significant roadblock within the verification procedure.

Between Would possibly and July, the colleges stated they might no longer reply to third-party requests, bringing up UK and EU information coverage regulation.

As an example, Town St George’s College of London stated the ideas sought is non-public and is exempt from disclosure beneath the United Kingdom Freedom of Data Act and the GDPR.

“To even ascertain whether or not or no longer the ideas is held would contain the discharge of private information concerning the information matter,” the college stated in a respond to PREMIUM TIMES’ request.

Some universities, together with Aston College and the College of Cambridge, referred our reporter to third-party verification internet sites like the United Kingdom’s Upper Schooling Degree Datacheck (HEDD) provider. However those products and services required the candidate, on this case Mr Kila, to present written consent for the request to be granted.

PREMIUM TIMES subsequently persisted its investigation into his professorship, since we had already decided it was once false.

The Eu Schooling and Tradition Government Company (EACEA), which administers the Jean Monnet Movements, had already replied to our request, announcing it knew not anything about Mr Kila.

We additionally decided that the Eu Centre for Complicated and Skilled Research (ECAPS), which he stated awarded him the professorship in 2016, didn’t exist.

Renewed Scrutiny of Kila’s levels

Then again, after investigating his professorship, this newspaper contacted the colleges once more.

Within the emails, this newspaper additionally requested the colleges to elucidate whether or not they ever introduced the educational programmes he claimed and whether or not he bought them right through the length he claimed.

PREMIUM TIMES informed the colleges the ideas sought was once within the public pastime and for fact-checking.

This time, maximum spoke back, together with Town St George’s College of London, Aston College, the College of Perugia, Università in line with Stranieri, Perugia, and Università in line with Stranieri, Siena.

Universities disown Kila’s levels

In its answer, Aston College disclaimed Mr Kila’s 2002 Grasp of Trade Management (MBA) diploma.

“There is not any file in Aston College’s pupil registry of an Anthony Kila finding out for an MBA,” an Aston College spokesperson informed our reporter in an electronic mail.

The Town St George’s College of London informed PREMIUM TIMES that Mr Kila’s claims range from its data.

The establishment, which stated it supplied the ideas best within the public pastime, stated Mr Kila enrolled in a one-year Banking and World Finance programme in 2000 however was once ‘deregistered’ and didn’t entire it.

“They (Mr Kila) started their diploma on 18/09/2000, with an anticipated finish date of 31/10/2001,” the college’s press administrative center informed PREMIUM TIMES.

‘Their precise finish date was once 30/06/2001, and had been deregistered from their direction the similar yr. So, apparently they had been on a one-year direction that they didn’t entire.”  It stays unclear which bachelor’s diploma Mr Kila utilized in enrolling for the direction and why he was once deregistered.

Mr Kila additionally stated he were given a Postgraduate Degree in Media and Communique from the College of Essex in 1992.

However the college informed PREMIUM TIMES that it doesn’t be offering a PGD in Media and Communications and hasn’t ever introduced the programme.

“We don’t be offering this direction, and we’ve not introduced this direction prior to now,” the college stated in a are living chat with our reporter.

Non-existent educational programmes

Whilst different universities didn’t reply particularly to Mr Kila’s case, they showed they don’t be offering the programmes and qualificationss he claimed from them.

As an example, the College of Perugia, the place Mr Kila claims to have bought his PhD in Political Financial system in 1997, informed this newspaper that its economics division does n’ot award doctoral levels in political financial system. It additionally directed our reporter to its website online, the place it lists all its educational programmes.

“The Division of Economics gives a PhD programme in Economics – Establishments, Trade, and Quantitative Strategies,” the college stated in an electronic mail to our reporter.

The university’s website additionally presentations it hasn’t ever introduced a doctorate in political financial system.

The college’s political science division gives a PhD in 4 specialities: Legality, Political Cultures, Democracy and Politics/Public Insurance policies/Globalisation. There may be none in political financial system.

Mr Kila additionally claimed to have bought a Bachelor of Arts diploma in Vintage Research from Università in line with Stranieri, Italy, in 1989, and a Grasp of Arts in Eu Research from the similar establishment in 1991.

PREMIUM TIMES discovered a couple of Università in line with Stranieri in Italy. There may be one in Perugia and one in Siena. Even if Mr Kila claimed he attended the only in Perugia, we contacted each.

“On the following hyperlink you’re going to in finding the entire data with regards to our undergraduate and graduate diploma programmes,” the Perugia-based college informed our reporter in an electronic mail.

A evaluate of the establishment’s historical records presentations that it hasn’t ever introduced a BA in Vintage Research or an MA in Eu Research. But, Mr Kila stated he earned Bachelor’s and Grasp’s levels on the college.

Our investigation printed that the college by no means introduced Bachelor’s and Grasp’s diploma programmes right through the length he claimed to have attended.

The college gives BA classes in World and Promoting Communique, Italian Language and Tradition within the Virtual Global, Made in Italy, Meals and Hospitality, and Social Sciences for Sustainability and World Cooperation.

The college gives Grasp’s classes in Promoting, Communique, Storytelling and Symbol Tradition; Italian for Instructing Foreigners; World Family members and Building Cooperation; Italian Meals Control and Tradition; Instructing Italian as a Non-Local Language; Recent Journalism; and City and Territorial Regeneration and Resilience.

In step with the college’s historical archive, it all started providing Bachelor’s levels best in 1992 and postgraduate levels after 1999, following the implementation of the European Bologna Process, which established the fashionable two-year graduate diploma framework.

Sooner than then, it best introduced non-degree classes in Italian literature, the historical past of Italian artwork, and the historical past of Italian tune. But, Mr Kila claimed he earned a BA from there in 1989 and an MA in 1991.

Even supposing Mr Kila claims he attended the Università in line with Stranieri in Siena, the classes he claims to have studied have by no means been introduced there both.

The college informed PREMIUM TIMES in an electronic mail that it gives 3 diploma programmes: Italian Language and Tradition; Linguistic and Cultural Mediation; and Multilingualism, Translation and Decoding.

On the Grasp’s stage, the classes to be had are Letters, Instructing and Publishing; Linguistic Sciences and Intercultural Communique; Languages, Cooperation and Variety; and Archaeology and Artwork Histories.

READ ALSO: Fake Professorship: Michael and Cecilia Ibru University suspends Anthony Kila

LLM, PGCE from Cambridge?

Mr Kila additionally claimed to have bought a Grasp of Rules diploma from the College of Cambridge in 2009.

The college has but to reply to our enquiry. Then again, it’s not going that Mr Kila attended the establishment, as his to be had qualification data confirmed he may n’ot had been admitted.

Cambridge, probably the most international’s oldest universities, is understood for its strict admission necessities. A evaluate of the LLM admission necessities discovered that the college calls for candidates to have no less than a first class regulation diploma.

“A hit candidates will in most cases be positioned neatly inside the best 10 in line with cent of regulation scholars of their jurisdiction,” the college stated.

“In remarkable and uncommon cases, you will be thought to be and not using a First Elegance Bachelor’s diploma in Legislation supplied you’ll display that academically you’re inside the best 10 in line with cent of legal professionals on your jurisdiction.”

Mr Kila shouldn’t have certified for admission to this type of programme, since there’s no proof that he ever enrolled in or earned a regulation diploma. He additionally didn’t declare one in his profile or the resume he shared with our reporter.

Mr Kila additionally claimed to have bought a Postgraduate Certificates in Upper Schooling (PGCE) from the College of Cambridge in 2006. However the college does no longer run this type of direction.

The nearest non-degree qualification in schooling that the College of Cambridge gives is the Postgraduate Certificates in Instructing & Finding out in Upper Schooling. This can be a Master’s-level course, open best to “Cambridge educating group of workers with no less than 3 years’ enjoy of training in upper schooling”.

Since there’s no proof Mr Kila ever taught at Cambridge, he may no longer have enrolled at the programme.

Whilst Mr Kila claimed he bought the certificates in 2006, the college’s website online confirmed the programme began only in 2017.

Kila speaks

PREMIUM TIMES emailed those findings to Mr Kila and messaged him by way of his identified WhatsApp line.

In his electronic mail answer, he stated he was once nonetheless contacting the establishments he related to and couldn’t get the asked proof in time.

“You’re nonetheless on my case. I’ve been studying the whole lot you’ve gotten posted, and I nonetheless surprise who will get pleasure from my destruction,” he wrote to our reporter.

“I’m lately hanging in combination my educational {and professional} paperwork, and they are going to be in a position quickly. I began contacting the establishments I’m related to on Monday, and those paperwork can’t be in a position through Thursday, as you’re soliciting for right here. As you’ll believe, collecting those paperwork is a best precedence for me.”