Anthony Kila has rejected reports describing him as a “fake professor”, saying the characterisation was inaccurate, misleading and damaging to his reputation and professional standing.
According to Vanguard on Monday, Kila, in a statement responding to a publication dated October 3, 2026, said he remained a professor and stood by the academic and professional credentials on which his professorial title was based.
“For the avoidance of doubt, I am a professor, and I stand by the title and the professional and academic credentials on which it is based,” he said.
He argued that the report was based on what he described as an incomplete understanding of the nature, origin and institutional basis of his professorship.
According to him, the matter should be assessed based on the relevant facts and supporting documentation, adding that he was prepared to make documents concerning his professorial status available.
Kila, who is the Pro-Chancellor of Michael and Cecilia Ibru University, Delta State, and Director of the Commonwealth Institute of Advanced and Professional Studies, also objected to the description “fake professor”, saying it was presented as a factual conclusion with serious implications for his reputation.
He said, “I am baffled by the level of attention directed at me,” noting that he neither held political office nor was seeking one and was not a government official.
Kila acknowledged the role of journalism in scrutinising the credentials of people occupying positions of responsibility but said such scrutiny should be conducted fairly and with a proper understanding of the facts.
He also thanked colleagues, friends, students and members of the public who contacted him after the publication to express confidence in his academic and professional credentials.
The statement followed a report by PREMIUM TIMES which alleged that Kila had falsely presented himself as a professor and a “Jean Monnet Professor of Strategy and Development” for years, despite the newspaper finding no evidence that a recognised university had awarded him the academic rank.
Kila reportedly told PREMIUM TIMES that the European Centre for Advanced and Professional Studies, which he said was based in Cambridge, United Kingdom, awarded him the professorship in 2016.
(Punch)
