The fake professor leading a Nigerian university

Anthony Kila, the pro-chancellor of Michael and Cecilia Ibru University (MCIU), has lengthy offered himself publicly as a professor and a “Jean Monnet Professor of Strategy and Development”, however PREMIUM TIMES has discovered that he was by no means awarded the educational rank.

Mr Kila, appointed pro-chancellor of MCIU in August 2025, has a lengthy listing of educational profiles that current him as a well-educated and broadly travelled jurist, professor, scholar, achieved skilled, writer, and public commentator of reputation.

A professional-chancellor chairs the governing council of each Nigerian university. The governing council is in flip charged with the final management and supervision of the administration, coverage implementation, finance and property of the university.

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, whereas others consult with him because the Jean Monnet Professor of Strategy and Development. But they’re each made up.

This PREMIUM TIMES investigation has now discovered that no recognised tutorial establishment has ever awarded Mr Kila a professorial title.

This investigation additionally discovered that his profile on the MCIU and CIAPS web sites comprise suspicious tutorial {qualifications} and roles used to decorate his tutorial standing, elevating questions on his different tutorial {qualifications}.

In his response to our reporter, Mr Kila stated the European Centre for Advanced and Professional Studies (ECAPS) awarded him the professorship. But this newspaper discovered that the establishment is non-existent,  current solely in Mr Kila’s profile.

When offered with our findings, a spokesperson for Michael and Cecilia Ibru University stated the establishment has no proof that Mr Kila shouldn’t be a professor as he claimed.

PREMIUM TIMES had contacted Thomas Kolo, a former Registrar at MCIU, asking to talk with the university spokesperson. He then handed the cellphone to somebody who recognized himself because the spokesperson, however failed to supply his identify.

“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 stated.

‘Fake Professor’

In his profile on the MCIU and CIAPS web sites, he was recognized as ‘Prof. Anthony Kila’. In a number of television and newspaper interviews reviewed by this newspaper, he was additionally commonly addressed as a professor.

The professorial rank is the very best tutorial rank awarded to high researchers and educators in Nigerian universities and globally.

There isn’t any proof that Mr Kila ever taught at any university in Nigeria and overseas or that he was ever awarded the title.

Mr Kila informed PREMIUM TIMES that the European Centre for Advanced and Professional Studies (ECAPS) primarily based in Cambridge within the United Kingdom awarded him the professorship in 2016.

However, this newspaper discovered that the establishment doesn’t exist anyplace, besides in Mr Kila’s profiles.

A search on the UK Companies House and Nigeria’s Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), in addition to a normal on-line search, didn’t present any leads, together with a web site, social media handles, an handle, or alumni of the stated establishment.

Mr Kila additionally 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 related to the European Union’s Jean Monnet Actions, a programme established to advertise instructing, analysis and debate on European Union integration.

PREMIUM TIMES contacted the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA), which administers the programme, to determine Mr Kila’s standing.

In its response, the Jean Monnet group stated Mr Kila doesn’t seem as a Jean Monnet venture coordinator for any venture, primarily based on data accessible in its listing.

“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 company stated.

PREMIUM TIMES additionally contacted Jean-Marc Trouille, a professor and co-chair of the AfriquEurope Jean Monnet Network. Mr Trouille can also be the Director of the Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence on the EU and Regional Integration within the East African Community.

Mr Trouille stated Mr Kila’s standing concerning 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 e mail.

Mr Trouille stated he looked for Jean Monnet exercise involving Mr Kila and located that the one Jean Monnet module in Nigeria that he was conscious of was on the University of Lagos, the place Mr Kila didn’t seem on the group.

Mr Kila additionally confirmed to this newspaper that he was not related to the Jean Monnet actions. He, nevertheless, failed to clarify how he started to consult with himself as a “Jean Monnet professor.”

How to turn into a professor

A professor is the very best tutorial rank and is attained by promotion inside 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 tutorial {qualifications}, instructing and analysis expertise, publications, postgraduate supervision and contribution to information.

“The first level qualification is to have a doctorate in the area of specialisation,” the NUC stated.

It added that a candidate should spend at the least three years in instructing, analysis, and group service at every of the ranks of Lecturer II, Lecturer I, Senior Lecturer, and Associate Professor, which means a candidate would usually have about 12 years of university instructing and analysis expertise earlier than being thought of for professorship.

A former Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University Gusau (FUGUS), Ahmad Galadima, a professor, additionally defined that the candidates’ tutorial achievements are first evaluated on the departmental degree by the college, then by the university promotion committee.

These embody publications, instructing load, high quality of instructing, administrative expertise, group service, and relationships with colleagues.

Afterwards, their CVs are despatched to a few high-ranking professors of their areas of experience for “external assessment”.

“When the requirements are fully satisfied, their CVs are sent for external assessment,” Mr Galadima informed PREMIUM TIMES. “Two positive responses are required to promote the staff to the rank.”

In another international locations such because the United Kingdom (UK), Mr Galadima stated, the process is extra stringent.

“Additional requirements like research grants acquired and quality of journal papers considered are top,” he added.

However, there isn’t any proof that Mr Kila taught at any university or authored any peer-reviewed tutorial journal.

Mr Kila’s Google Scholar page listed 22 works, together with books, journal articles, e-book chapters and different works, however PREMIUM TIMES discovered that 9 of the 22 data weren’t authored by Mr Kila.

Of the works truly attributed to Mr Kila, none could possibly be independently established from the assessment as a peer-reviewed article in a respected tutorial journal.

Three entries on the Google Scholar profile are listed as printed within the Commonwealth Institute of Advanced and Professional Studies (CIAPS) Journal, a publication related to an organisation he created.

In his ResearchGate profile, the place he recognized himself as a ‘full professor’, he listed no publications.

Non-existent establishments

In Mr Kila’s public biographies, he’s repeatedly described as a global Director of Studies on the non-existent “European Centre of Advanced and Professional Studies”.

The European Centre for Advanced Studies (ECAS), the establishment closest in identify to Mr Kila’s so-called ECAPS,  was established by the University of Glasgow and Leuphana University.

But the establishment stated it has no reference to Mr Kila.

“The European Centre for Advanced Studies has no knowledge of this person (Mr Kila),” its Academic Director, James Conroy, informed PREMIUM TIMES in an e mail.

Kila’s suspicious tutorial claims

Although Mr Kila’s profiles didn’t state precisely which faculties he attended, they listed a number of {qualifications}, together with LLM, MBA, MSc, PhD, and PGCE.

“Anthony studied in Cambridge, London, Perugia, and Suffolk. He graduated with a first-class degree in political economy and later specialised in political anthropology. He has taught in various colleges 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 offered particulars of the establishments he attended, {qualifications} obtained, his tutorial profession, and the place he obtained his professorship.

Mr Kila initially informed PREMIUM TIMES that he didn’t have a CV available as a result of he was not a younger skilled who wanted one commonly.

“I don’t really have a CV handy,” he stated in a message to our reporter. “I will find time to send you something.”

He subsequently offered a listing of his tutorial {qualifications}.

He stated he obtained a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Classic Studies from Università per Stranieri, Italy, in 1989, adopted by a Master of Arts in European Studies from the identical establishment in 1991.

He listed a Postgraduate Diploma in Media and Communication from the University of Essex in 1992 and a Master of Science in International Banking and Finance from City University London in 1994.

According to the listing, he obtained a Doctor of Philosophy in Political Economy from the University of Perugia in 1997, adopted by a Master of Business Administration from Aston University, Birmingham, in 2002.

He additionally claimed to have obtained a Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education from Cambridge in 2006 and a Master of Laws from Cambridge in 2009.

But even these claims contradicted his profiles on the web site of his Commonwealth Institute of Advanced and Professional Studies (CIAPS), the place he portrayed himself as having graduated with a first-class diploma in political economic system and later specialising in political anthropology. That declare was repeated on the web site of the Michael and Cecilia Ibru University.

However, in a temporary resume he shared with our reporter, he informed a totally different story, saying his first diploma was in Classical Studies from Università per Stranieri, Perugia, Italy. We are nonetheless investigating that declare.

The CIAPS web site, by which Mr Kila made a number of suspicious claims about himself and his enterprise, was unreachable up to now few days. That was after our reporter confronted him with our findings.

The web site was repeatedly edited, with Mr Kila’s deceptive profile initially eliminated, earlier than it was ultimately taken offline.

This newspaper is constant investigations into the educational {qualifications} claimed by Mr Kila. The verification course of has been gradual as a result of we’re nonetheless awaiting responses from a few of the establishments he claimed to have attended.

However, this newspaper clearly established his fake professorship, whereas its investigation into his claimed instructional {qualifications} continues.