If
you have a degree in Mass Communication, or you are currently studying
to get this degree, or you have friends who have something to do with
this degree in Nigeria, then you should be interested in this story. It
seems the era of having Mass Communication as a degree in Nigeria is
nearing an end.
Professors, professionals and practitioners of
communication in Nigeria have presented new communication curricula to
National Universities Commission (NUC).
A document containing new
curricula for communication studies in Nigerian universities, which
seeks to unbundle mass communication and create seven degree awarding
departments to be domiciled under a School/College of Communication in
its place, was formally presented to the Executive Secretary of the NUC,
Prof. Abubakar Rasheed, in Abuja on Tuesday, 5th February 2019.
Proponents
of the new curricula who have been working on it for the past two years
and who were present to advocate for its acceptance and adoption
included professors and senior lecturers from the departments of mass
communication/communication studies of numerous universities spread
across the six geo-political zones of the country; regulatory agencies
such as the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) and Nigerian Press
Council (NPC); professional bodies such as the Nigeria Union of
Journalists (NUJ), Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON),
Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) and Radio, Television and
Theartre Arts Workers Union (RATTAWU); practitioners such as the
Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), print media journalists and the
Director of Public Relations of the Nigerian Navy; and international
development agencies such as UNESCO, UNICEF and the MacArthur
Foundation.
The Executive Secretary of the Tertiary Education
Fund (TETFUND), Prof. Suleiman Elias Bogoro was also personally present
to support the NUC Executive Secretary and to present a goodwill
message at the ceremony.
The seven independent degree-awarding
departments which the curricula seek to establish in place of mass
communication are: Journalism & Media Studies, Public Relations,
Advertising, Broadcasting, Film & Multimedia Studies, Development
Communication Studies, and Information & Media Studies. Those who
formally presented the curricula on behalf of the communication
professors, professionals and practitioners were Professors Umaru Pate
(Convener), Idowu Sobowale, Ralph Akinfeleye and Tonnie Iredia.
Receiving
the document, the Executive Secretary of the NUC, Prof. Rasheed said a
review of the mass communication curriculum was long overdue and
promised to expedite action in the process of finalizing and adopting
the curricula.
Prof. Eserinune McCarty Mojaye of the Department
of Mass Communication, Kwara State University was among the notable
dignitaries at the ceremony who also included Professors Palph
Akinfeleye, Idowu Sobowale, Umaru Pate, Tonnie Iredia, Stella Okunna,
Nnanyelugo Okoro, Sunny Udeze, Muyiwa Popoola, Godwin Oboh, Mr. Kingsley
Osadolor and a host of others.
(from left to right) are:
Professors Muyiwa Popoola of Ajayi Crowther University, Oyo; Sunny Udeze
of Enugu State University of Technology, Enugu; Nnanyelugo Okoro of
University of Nigeria, Nsukka; Idowu Sobowale of McPherson University,
Seriki-Sotayo, Ajebo; Stella Okunna of Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka;
Ralph Akinfeleye of University of Lagos, Yaba, Lagos; Godwin Oboh of
Benson Idahosa University, Benin City; Umaru Pate of Bayero University,
Kano; and Eserinune McCarty Mojaye of Kwara State University, Malete.
