An investigation by PREMIUM TIMES has found no evidence that Anthony Kila, the Pro-Chancellor of Michael and Cecilia Ibru University (MCIU), was ever awarded the academic rank of professor by a recognised academic institution.
Kila, who was appointed Pro-Chancellor of the university in August 2025, has for years been publicly described as a professor and, in some profiles, as a “Jean Monnet Professor of Strategy and Development”. PREMIUM TIMES reported that several of his public profiles, including those on the websites of MCIU and the Commonwealth Institute of Advanced and Professional Studies (CIAPS), identify him as “Prof. Anthony Kila”.
The investigation, however, found no evidence that a recognised university had conferred the professorial rank on him. Kila told PREMIUM TIMES that the professorship was awarded to him in 2016 by the European Centre for Advanced and Professional Studies (ECAPS), which he said was based in Cambridge, United Kingdom.
The newspaper reported that searches of the UK Companies House, Nigeria’s Corporate Affairs Commission and online sources produced no evidence of the existence of ECAPS, including a website, physical address, social media presence or identifiable alumni.
Kila also attributed the “Jean Monnet Professor of Strategy and Development” title to ECAPS. However, the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA), which administers the European Union’s Jean Monnet programme, told PREMIUM TIMES that Kila did not appear in its publicly available directory as a Jean Monnet project coordinator.
The agency said that, based on the coordinator data publicly available since 2015, Kila had not been listed as holding the role.
Jean-Marc Trouille, a professor and co-chair of the AfriquEurope Jean Monnet Network, also told the newspaper that it was “highly unlikely” that Kila held a Jean Monnet Chair award. He said his search for Jean Monnet activity involving Kila did not find such an association.
Questions over academic career
The investigation also raised questions about Kila’s claimed academic career and qualifications.
According to his published profiles, Kila is presented as having studied in Cambridge, London, Perugia and Suffolk and as having taught at colleges and universities in several European cities. However, PREMIUM TIMES reported that it found no evidence that he had taught at a university in Nigeria or abroad or that he had been awarded a professorial rank.
His profiles list qualifications including an LLM, MBA, MSc, PhD and PGCE but do not consistently identify the institutions where they were obtained.
When asked to provide his curriculum vitae, Kila initially said he did not have one readily available but later supplied a list of qualifications.
He said he obtained a BA in Classical Studies from Università per Stranieri, Italy, in 1989; an MA in European Studies from the same institution in 1991; a Postgraduate Diploma in Media and Communication from the University of Essex in 1992; and an MSc in International Banking and Finance from City University London in 1994.
He further listed a PhD in Political Economy from the University of Perugia in 1997, an MBA from Aston University in 2002, a Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education from Cambridge in 2006 and an LLM from Cambridge in 2009.
However, PREMIUM TIMES said some of these claims differed from information contained in Kila’s CIAPS and MCIU profiles. Those profiles described him as having graduated with a first-class degree in political economy and later specialised in political anthropology, while the CV information he supplied identified his first degree as Classical Studies from Università per Stranieri in Perugia.
Google Scholar entries questioned
The investigation also examined Kila’s Google Scholar profile, which listed 22 works, including books, journal articles, book chapters and other publications.
PREMIUM TIMES reported that nine of the 22 records were not authored by Kila. It further said that none of the publications attributed to him could, from its review, be independently established as a peer-reviewed article in a reputable academic journal.
Three entries were listed as publications in the CIAPS Journal, associated with an organisation created by Kila. His ResearchGate profile, meanwhile, identified him as a “full professor” but listed no publications.
University response
When contacted about the findings, a spokesperson for Michael and Cecilia Ibru University said the institution had no evidence that Kila was not a professor, based on his claim.
The spokesperson, whose identity was not provided to PREMIUM TIMES, declined to debate the issue before publication and said the university would respond if necessary after seeing the newspaper’s report.
Kila’s position as Pro-Chancellor is significant because the office carries responsibility for chairing a university’s governing council, which oversees areas including administration, policy implementation, finance and university assets.
What qualifies someone as a professor?
The National Universities Commission (NUC) states that attaining the rank of professor in the Nigerian university system involves consideration of academic qualifications, teaching and research experience, publications, postgraduate supervision and contributions to knowledge.
According to the NUC’s stated minimum standards, a doctorate in the relevant area is the first-level qualification, while candidates would typically spend at least three years at each of the Lecturer II, Lecturer I, Senior Lecturer and Associate Professor ranks before being considered for professorship.
Ahmad Galadima, a professor and former Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University Gusau, told PREMIUM TIMES that promotion to professorship involves assessment at departmental and faculty levels, followed by consideration by the university’s promotion committee and external assessment by senior professors.
He said two positive external assessments are required for promotion to the rank.
PREMIUM TIMES also reported that an institution called the European Centre for Advanced Studies (ECAS), established by the University of Glasgow and Leuphana University, has no connection with Kila or his claimed ECAPS.
James Conroy, Academic Director of ECAS, reportedly told the newspaper that the institution had no knowledge of Kila.
The newspaper said its investigation into Kila’s claimed educational qualifications remains ongoing because responses are still awaited from some of the institutions he identified.
However, PREMIUM TIMES said it had established its finding regarding the professorship, while further verification of his educational background continues.
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