Mr Kila has a long list of academic profiles that present him as a well-educated and widely travelled jurist, professor, scholar, accomplished professional, author, and public commentator of repute.
Anthony Kila, the pro-chancellor of Michael and Cecilia Ibru University (MCIU), has long presented himself publicly as a professor and a “Jean Monnet Professor of Strategy and Development”, but PREMIUM TIMES has found that he was never awarded the academic rank.
A pro-chancellor chairs the governing council of every Nigerian university. The governing council is in turn charged with the general control and supervision of the administration, policy implementation, finance and assets of the university.
Mr Kila, the MCIU pro-chancellor, has given many interviews to Nigerian newspapers and television stations, where he is frequently addressed as ‘professor’.
Some publications call him a professor of political science, while others refer to him as the Jean Monnet Professor of Strategy and Development. But they are both made up.
This PREMIUM TIMES investigation has now found that no recognised academic institution has ever awarded Mr Kila a professorial title.
This investigation also found that his profile on the MCIU and CIAPS websites contain suspicious academic qualifications and roles used to embellish his academic standing, raising questions about his other academic qualifications.
In his response to our reporter, Mr Kila said the European Centre for Advanced and Professional Studies (ECAPS) awarded him the professorship. But this newspaper found that the institution is non-existent, present only in Mr Kila’s profile.
When presented with our findings, a spokesperson for Michael and Cecilia Ibru University said the institution has no evidence that Mr Kila is not a professor as he claimed.
PREMIUM TIMES had contacted Thomas Kolo, a former Registrar at MCIU, asking to speak with the university spokesperson. He then passed the phone to someone who identified himself as the spokesperson, but failed to provide his name.
“We don’t debate issues. You can go up with whatever you are going up with. If there’s a need to respond, we will respond when we see the article,” the spokesperson said.
In his profile on the MCIU and CIAPS websites, he was identified as ‘Prof. Anthony Kila’. In several television and newspaper interviews reviewed by this newspaper, he was also regularly addressed as a professor.
The professorial rank is the highest academic rank awarded to top researchers and educators in Nigerian universities and globally.
There is no evidence that Mr Kila ever taught at any university in Nigeria and abroad or that he was ever awarded the title.
Mr Kila told PREMIUM TIMES that the European Centre for Advanced and Professional Studies (ECAPS) based in Cambridge in the United Kingdom awarded him the professorship in 2016.
However, this newspaper found that the institution doesn’t exist anywhere, except in Mr Kila’s profiles.
A search on the UK Companies House and Nigeria’s Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), as well as a general online search, didn’t provide any leads, including a website, social media handles, an address, or alumni of the said institution.
Mr Kila also claimed the European Centre for Advanced and Professional Studies (ECAPS) made him a ‘Jean Monnet professor of Strategy and Development’.
The title “Jean Monnet Professor” is associated with the European Union’s Jean Monnet Actions, a programme established to promote teaching, research and debate on European Union integration.
PREMIUM TIMES contacted the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA), which administers the programme, to establish Mr Kila’s status.
In its response, the Jean Monnet team said Mr Kila does not appear as a Jean Monnet project coordinator for any project, based on information accessible in its directory.
“In other words, within the period for which coordinator data are publicly available, Mr Kila has not been listed as holding the role of Jean Monnet project coordinator since 2015,” the agency said.
PREMIUM TIMES also contacted Jean-Marc Trouille, a professor and co-chair of the AfriquEurope Jean Monnet Network. Mr Trouille is also the Director of the Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence on the EU and Regional Integration in the East African Community.
Mr Trouille said Mr Kila’s status regarding the Jean Monnet programme is ‘highly unlikely’.
“First, I think it is highly unlikely that Prof. Kila would hold a Jean Monnet Chair award,” he wrote to our reporter in an email.
Mr Trouille said he searched for Jean Monnet activity involving Mr Kila and found that the only Jean Monnet module in Nigeria that he was aware of was at the University of Lagos, where Mr Kila did not appear on the team.
Mr Kila also confirmed to this newspaper that he was not associated with the Jean Monnet actions. He, however, failed to explain how he began to refer to himself as a “Jean Monnet professor.”
A professor is the highest academic rank and is attained through promotion within a university.
According to the National Universities Commission (NUC), which regulates Nigerian universities, the minimum standard for attaining the rank of professor considers a candidate’s academic qualifications, teaching and research experience, publications, postgraduate supervision and contribution to knowledge.
“The first level qualification is to have a doctorate in the area of specialisation,” the NUC said.
