University Cuts Ties with Kila After Fake Professorship Exposed

Michael and Cecilia Ibru University (MCIU) has removed all mentions of Anthony Kila from its website after a PREMIUM TIMES investigation found out he is not a real professor. Kila has been the university’s pro-chancellor since August 2025. Before now, his name, profile, and pictures were on the school’s site.

On Monday evening, around 7 p.m., PREMIUM TIMES checked the website and saw that Kila’s details had been wiped off completely. There was no trace of him anywhere on the site.

Kila's information used to be listed next to Cecilia Ibru, the school’s owner and a former banker. It also appeared alongside Ibiyinka Fuwape, the Vice-Chancellor and a real professor.

So far, the university has not made any public comments about the investigation that revealed Kila as a fake professor. Vice-Chancellor Fuwape said the university would address the issues raised soon.

She mentioned that the university council would meet and make an official statement after that. "We will reply to you very soon. The PRO will get in touch with you. The council is yet to meet. I can’t give you any information other than that," she said.

Kila has claimed to be a professor for over ten years. He has appeared at public events and on TV. But the investigation showed that he never received that title and had been lying about being a professor and a “Jean Monnet Professor of Strategy and Development.”

When PREMIUM TIMES contacted him, he said the European Centre for Advanced and Professional Studies (ECAPS) in Cambridge, UK, gave him the title in 2016. But the investigation found no proof that this school even exists.

Searches in the UK Companies House, Nigeria’s Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), and other online sources showed no sign of the institution. There were no websites, social media pages, physical addresses, or alumni records connected to ECAPS.

The European Education and Culture Executive Agency, which oversees the Jean Monnet Actions, also said Kila has no link to the Jean Monnet programme and was never awarded a Jean Monnet Professorship.

In response to the investigation, Kila avoided answering the specific questions but insisted he is a real professor. He did not provide proof of the institution that supposedly awarded him the title.

He claimed the PREMIUM TIMES report was based on "an incomplete understanding of the nature, origin and institutional basis" of his professorship. Kila also said he has asked his lawyers to look into the publication and advise him on the right legal steps to take to defend his reputation and career.