Anthony Kila, the pro-chancellor of Michael and Cecilia Ibru College (MCIU), has lengthy introduced himself publicly as a professor and a “Jean Monnet Professor of Technique and Building”, however PREMIUM TIMES has discovered that he used to be by no means awarded the educational rank.
Mr Kila, appointed pro-chancellor of MCIU in August 2025, has a protracted checklist of educational profiles that provide him as a well-educated and broadly travelled jurist, professor, student, achieved skilled, writer, and public commentator of reputation.
A professional-chancellor chairs the governing council of each and every Nigerian college. The governing council is in flip charged with the overall keep watch over and supervision of the management, coverage implementation, finance and belongings of the college.
Mr Kila, the MCIU pro-chancellor, has given many interviews to Nigerian newspapers and tv stations, the place he’s often addressed as ‘professor’.
Some publications name him a professor of political science, whilst others check with him because the Jean Monnet Professor of Technique and Building. However they’re each made up.
This PREMIUM TIMES investigation has now discovered that no recognised instructional establishment has ever awarded Mr Kila a professorial identify.
This investigation additionally discovered that his profile at the MCIU and CIAPS internet sites comprise suspicious instructional {qualifications} and roles used to decorate his instructional status, elevating questions on his different instructional {qualifications}.
In his reaction to our reporter, Mr Kila mentioned the Ecu Centre for Complicated and Skilled Research (ECAPS) awarded him the professorship. However this newspaper discovered that the establishment is non-existent, provide simplest in Mr Kila’s profile.
When introduced with our findings, a spokesperson for Michael and Cecilia Ibru College mentioned the establishment has no proof that Mr Kila isn’t a professor as he claimed.
PREMIUM TIMES had contacted Thomas Kolo, a former Registrar at MCIU, asking to talk with the college spokesperson. He then handed the telephone to anyone who recognized himself because the spokesperson, however failed to supply his identify.
“We don’t debate problems. You’ll be able to pass up with no matter you’re going up with. If there’s a wish to reply, we can reply after we see the item,” the spokesperson mentioned.
‘Faux Professor’
In his profile at the MCIU and CIAPS internet sites, he used to be recognized as ‘Prof. Anthony Kila’. In numerous television and newspaper interviews reviewed by way of this newspaper, he used to be additionally ceaselessly addressed as a professor.
The professorial rank is the best instructional rank awarded to best researchers and educators in Nigerian universities and globally.
There’s no proof that Mr Kila ever taught at any college in Nigeria and in a foreign country or that he used to be ever awarded the identify.
Mr Kila advised PREMIUM TIMES that the Ecu Centre for Complicated and Skilled Research (ECAPS) primarily based in Cambridge in the UK awarded him the professorship in 2016.
Alternatively, this newspaper discovered that the establishment doesn’t exist anyplace, apart from in Mr Kila’s profiles.
A seek on the United Kingdom Firms Area and Nigeria’s Company Affairs Fee (CAC), in addition to a basic on-line seek, didn’t supply any leads, together with a site, social media handles, an deal with, or alumni of the mentioned establishment.
Mr Kila additionally claimed the Ecu Centre for Complicated and Skilled Research (ECAPS) made him a ‘Jean Monnet professor of Technique and Building’.
The identify “Jean Monnet Professor” is related to the European Union’s Jean Monnet Actions, a programme established to advertise instructing, analysis and debate on Ecu Union integration.
PREMIUM TIMES contacted the Ecu Schooling and Tradition Govt Company (EACEA), which administers the programme, to ascertain Mr Kila’s standing.
In its reaction, the Jean Monnet staff mentioned Mr Kila does now not seem as a Jean Monnet undertaking coordinator for any undertaking, according to data obtainable in its listing.
“In different phrases, throughout the length for which coordinator information are publicly to be had, Mr Kila has now not been indexed as retaining the position of Jean Monnet undertaking coordinator since 2015,” the company mentioned.
PREMIUM TIMES additionally contacted Jean-Marc Trouille, a professor and co-chair of the AfriquEurope Jean Monnet Community. Mr Trouille could also be the Director of the Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence at the EU and Regional Integration within the East African Neighborhood.
Mr Trouille mentioned Mr Kila’s standing in regards to the Jean Monnet programme is ‘extremely not likely’.
“First, I believe it’s extremely not likely that Prof. Kila would grasp a Jean Monnet Chair award,” he wrote to our reporter in an e mail.
Mr Trouille mentioned he looked for Jean Monnet job involving Mr Kila and located that the one Jean Monnet module in Nigeria that he used to be conscious about used to be on the College of Lagos, the place Mr Kila didn’t seem at the staff.
Mr Kila additionally showed to this newspaper that he used to be now not related to the Jean Monnet movements. He, then again, failed to give an explanation for how he started to check with himself as a “Jean Monnet professor.”
How you can grow to be a professor
A professor is the best instructional rank and is attained via promotion inside a school.
In step with the Nationwide Universities Fee (NUC), which regulates Nigerian universities, the minimum standard for achieving the rank of professor considers a candidate’s instructional {qualifications}, instructing and analysis revel in, publications, postgraduate supervision and contribution to wisdom.
“The primary stage qualification is to have a doctorate within the space of specialisation,” the NUC mentioned.
It added {that a} candidate should spend no less than 3 years in instructing, analysis, and neighborhood provider at each and every of the ranks of Lecturer II, Lecturer I, Senior Lecturer, and Affiliate Professor, that means a candidate would in most cases have about 12 years of college instructing and analysis revel in prior to being thought to be for professorship.
A former Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the Federal College Gusau (FUGUS), Ahmad Galadima, a professor, additionally defined that the applicants’ instructional achievements are first evaluated on the departmental stage throughout the college, then by way of the college promotion committee.
Those come with publications, instructing load, high quality of educating, administrative revel in, neighborhood provider, and relationships with colleagues.
Afterwards, their CVs are despatched to 3 high-ranking professors of their spaces of experience for “exterior evaluation”.
“When the necessities are absolutely glad, their CVs are despatched for exterior evaluation,” Mr Galadima advised PREMIUM TIMES. “Two certain responses are required to advertise the personnel to the rank.”
In another nations corresponding to the UK (UK), Mr Galadima mentioned, the process is extra stringent.
“Further necessities like analysis grants bought and high quality of magazine papers thought to be are best,” he added.
Alternatively, there’s no proof that Mr Kila taught at any college or authored any peer-reviewed instructional magazine.
Mr Kila’s Google Scholar page indexed 22 works, together with books, magazine articles, guide chapters and different works, however PREMIUM TIMES discovered that 9 of the 22 information weren’t authored by way of Mr Kila.
Of the works in fact attributed to Mr Kila, none might be independently established from the evaluate as a peer-reviewed article in a credible instructional magazine.
3 entries at the Google Pupil profile are indexed as printed within the Commonwealth Institute of Complicated and Skilled Research (CIAPS) Magazine, a newsletter related to an organisation he created.
In his ResearchGate profile, the place he recognized himself as a ‘complete professor’, he indexed no publications.
Non-existent establishments
In Mr Kila’s public biographies, he’s many times described as a world Director of Research on the non-existent “Ecu Centre of Complicated and Skilled Research”.
The Ecu Centre for Complicated Research (ECAS), the establishment closest in identify to Mr Kila’s so-called ECAPS, used to be established by way of the College of Glasgow and Leuphana College.
However the establishment mentioned it has no reference to Mr Kila.
“The Ecu Centre for Complicated Research has no wisdom of this particular person (Mr Kila),” its Educational Director, James Conroy, advised PREMIUM TIMES in an e mail.
Kila’s suspicious instructional claims
Even if Mr Kila’s profiles didn’t state precisely which faculties he attended, they indexed a number of {qualifications}, together with LLM, MBA, MSc, PhD, and PGCE.
“Anthony studied in Cambridge, London, Perugia, and Suffolk. He graduated with a firstclass level in political economic system and later specialized in political anthropology. He has taught in more than a few schools and universities in Cambridge, Ipswich, Lecce, London, Perugia, and Siena,” his profile reads.
The newspaper sought Mr Kila’s complete Curriculum Vitae, which might have supplied main points of the establishments he attended, {qualifications} received, his instructional profession, and the place he received his professorship.
Mr Kila first of all advised PREMIUM TIMES that he didn’t have a CV readily to be had as a result of he used to be now not a tender skilled who wanted one ceaselessly.
“I don’t truly have a CV at hand,” he mentioned in a message to our reporter. “I can to find time to ship you one thing.”
He therefore supplied an inventory of his instructional {qualifications}.
He mentioned he received a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Vintage Research from Università in line with Stranieri, Italy, in 1989, adopted by way of a Grasp of Arts in Ecu Research from the similar establishment in 1991.
He indexed a Postgraduate Degree in Media and Communique from the College of Essex in 1992 and a Grasp of Science in Global Banking and Finance from Town College London in 1994.
In step with the checklist, he received a Physician of Philosophy in Political Economic system from the College of Perugia in 1997, adopted by way of a Grasp of Trade Management from Aston College, Birmingham, in 2002.
He additionally claimed to have received a Postgraduate Certificates in Upper Schooling from Cambridge in 2006 and a Grasp of Rules from Cambridge in 2009.
However even those claims contradicted his profiles at the site of his Commonwealth Institute of Complicated and Skilled Research (CIAPS), the place he portrayed himself as having graduated with a firstclass level in political economic system and later specialising in political anthropology. That declare used to be repeated at the site of the Michael and Cecilia Ibru College.
Alternatively, in a short lived resume he shared with our reporter, he advised a distinct tale, pronouncing his first level used to be in Classical Research from Università in line with Stranieri, Perugia, Italy. We’re nonetheless investigating that declare.
The CIAPS site, wherein Mr Kila made a number of suspicious claims about himself and his industry, used to be unreachable up to now few days. That used to be after our reporter faced him with our findings.
The site used to be many times edited, with Mr Kila’s deceptive profile first of all got rid of, prior to it used to be sooner or later taken offline.
This newspaper is constant investigations into the educational {qualifications} claimed by way of Mr Kila. The verification procedure has been sluggish as a result of we’re nonetheless expecting responses from one of the crucial establishments he claimed to have attended.
Alternatively, this newspaper obviously established his faux professorship, whilst its investigation into his claimed instructional {qualifications} continues.
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