Fashola reveals he turned down 17 honorary degrees as Lagos state governor- Babatunde Fashola has revealed that he turned down 17 honorary degrees as Lagos state governor - The minister of works and housing made the statement when he received some distinguished Nigerians in his office - Fashola said honorary degrees must be conferred on awardees based on merit and not because they occupy political offices PAY ATTENTION: Click “See First” under the “Following” tab to see Legit.ng News on your Facebook News Feed! The minister of works and housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola, on Wednesday, August 19, decried the abuse of honorary degrees by universities in the country, revealing that he turned down 17 offers during his time in office as Lagos state governor. The minister made this known when the committee of Vice-Chancellors/Association of Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian Universities paid him a courtesy visit recently. The former governor also revealed that he stopped the award of honorary degrees in the Lagos State University (LASU). Recommended for you Baby with "big nose" becomes beautiful girl after 1 year, her transformatio... PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read the best news on Nigeria’s #1 news app He also noted that honorary degrees must be conferred on awardees based on merit and not because they occupy political offices or command socio-economic powers. He noted: “In my eight years in office I had 17 offers and I didn’t take one. I told them to wait until when I was out of office and if they still find me worthy they should then come back, and when I was out of office only one came back.” A Nigerian on social media, Ashiru Ashriu, wrote on the issue. He shared: "We need to change our orientation as a people! Why celebrate treasury looters with chieftaincy titles and honorary degrees and condemn pickpockets to death? Let us have a rethink, for a better Nigeria." Interestingly, on Saturday, December 12, 2015, President Muhammadu Buhari shocked Nigeria’s academic community when he went to Kaduna State University, KASU and received an honorary doctorate degree (Honoris Causa) barely seven months after his inauguration. Recommended for you Tinubu's aide asks Buhari to suspend Emefiele as CBN governor, gives fresh... Writing on the award given to the president, one Mohammed Jibo Imran wrote: “On the surface of it, one would be tempted to ask: is the president being honoured for his records of yesteryears or is he being honoured for his performance in the last seven month? “If it is for his past records, the natural question is why now and why by KASU? That university existed for over a decade, why didn’t they honour Muhammadu Buhari last year or five years ago? If the honour is as a result of his present assignment, what has he done this far to earn him an honoris causa? “Isn’t it a case of moral corruption for a serving president, who has a lot of favours to dish out, accept to receive an undeserved honorary doctorate degree from a state university whose vice-chancellor was, in the last six months, queried by the visitor to the University about three times? Recommended for you "Simi don trabaye": Video of Adekunle Gold, wife & Deja jubilating over his... “Is it the case that, after the KASU formula, that the president will not attend the convocation ceremony of any university unless that university includes the president as one its recipients of an honorary doctorate degree. “How not, since over a dozen universities have held their convocation ceremonies since the coming of Buhari to office and he attended none, it is, therefore, safe to assume that his failure to attend was because they have not honoured him with a degree.” Legit.ng had earlier reported that the federal government recently gave a fresh update of the reopening of tertiary institutions in the country amid the coronavirus pandemic. The chairman of the Presidential ask Force on COVID-19 and Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, said all schools, including tertiary institutions, would reopen only when it is safe to do so. Mustapha made this statement in response to the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) at the briefing of the task force on Monday, August 17. Recommended for you "No old notes yet from CBN": Banks ration cash as Supreme Court suspends wi... Meanwhile, the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS) has been presented before the federal government by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) as an alternative to the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS). UTAS was presented to the minister of education, Adamu Adamu by the president of ASUU, Biodun Ogunyemi, on Tuesday, August 18. Ogunyemi also announced that the union will not call off its ongoing strike because the government is yet to honour the agreement made in 2019. Why I don't feel bad about N200k prize money - best graduating law student | Legit TV Source: Legit.ng - Babatunde Fashola has revealed that he turned down 17 honorary degrees as Lagos state governor - The minister of works and housing made the statement when he received some distinguished Nigerians in his office - Fashola said honorary degrees must be conferred on awardees based on merit and not because they occupy political offices PAY ATTENTION: PAY ATTENTION: Legit.ng