By Ganiu Bamgbose, PhD
One of the recurring arguments in contemporary discussions about higher education in Nigeria is that some university courses have become irrelevant and should either be discontinued or discouraged. The argument is often driven by changing labour market demands, the growing influence of technology, unemployment among graduates, and the perception that some disciplines offer little promise of economic prosperity. While these concerns are legitimate, the conclusion that certain courses are no longer worth studying is a fundamental misdiagnosis of the challenges confronting higher education in Nigeria. The problem may not necessarily lie in the course of study but in the conditions under which it is taught, the resources available for its delivery, and the extent to which its content responds to contemporary realities.
There is hardly any academic discipline that cannot contribute meaningfully to societal development when properly conceptualised, adequately resourced, methodologically sound, and appropriately adapted to the demands of the twenty-first century. The relevance of a course is not an intrinsic quality that remains permanently fixed; it is also a product of how the discipline is taught, the questions it addresses, the problems it solves, and the possibilities it creates. A discipline that appears outdated in one context may become indispensable in another when its intellectual resources are properly harnessed.
Consider the humanities, which are frequently dismissed in conversations about employability and national development. Philosophy, history, literature, languages, and religious studies are sometimes portrayed as disciplines whose graduates have limited prospects outside teaching. Yet, these fields provide critical thinking, ethical reasoning, cultural intelligence, historical consciousness, communication competence, and interpretive skills. In a world increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence, misinformation, cultural conflicts, and complex social relationships, these competencies are hardly dispensable. What may be necessary is to rethink the ways humanities programmes are structured, taught, and connected to public policy, technology, entrepreneurship, media, and other professional environments.
The same argument applies to the sciences, social sciences, and other professional disciplines. A course in agriculture, for instance, cannot adequately serve contemporary Nigeria if it remains detached from precision farming, climate change, agricultural technology, food security, and modern supply-chain management. Similarly, a business programme that neglects digital commerce, data analysis, financial technology, and emerging management practices risks producing graduates inadequately prepared for the contemporary economy. The answer, however, is not to abandon agriculture or business education but to strengthen their curricula, facilities, pedagogies, and connections to the realities of society.
Even disciplines that appear narrowly specialised can become relevant when properly contextualised. Linguistics, for example, can contribute to language technology, speech recognition, artificial intelligence, language documentation, literacy development, and the preservation of endangered indigenous languages. History can inform urban planning, conflict resolution, cultural tourism, and public policy. Fine and applied arts can contribute to digital design, animation, creative industries, advertising, and cultural entrepreneurship. The possibilities are extensive because societal needs are not restricted to the production of engineers, doctors, and software developers. Societies also need people who can understand human behaviour, preserve collective memory, interpret cultural experiences, communicate effectively, and interrogate the ethical consequences of innovation.
This is not an argument for retaining every course in its existing form, regardless of its usefulness or quality. Universities must periodically review their programmes, eliminate unnecessary duplication, update obsolete content, and discontinue offerings that cannot be justified after rigorous evaluation. However, such decisions should follow evidence-based assessment rather than popular assumptions about which disciplines are fashionable or financially rewarding. A course should be evaluated in relation to its intellectual value, societal relevance, teaching quality, research potential, and capacity to evolve—not merely by the immediate employment prospects of its graduates.
With the advent of AI and the possibility of self-diagnosis through apps, one is tempted to think that even a course such as medicine no longer has its exalted place. With e-lawyers, our rights and duties are now delivered to our phones as talks and skits, bringing ease to legal information and awareness. Are we then going to declare that medicine and law are also becoming or already obsolete? There is no course that does not need to respond to changing times and dynamics.
The actual challenges of higher education in Nigeria are therefore more structural and systemic than disciplinary. Many institutions struggle with inadequate funding, poorly equipped laboratories, insufficient library resources, overcrowded classrooms, unreliable electricity, limited internet access, and weak research infrastructure. In some cases, curricula remain detached from industry and community needs, while teaching methods privilege memorisation over inquiry, creativity, collaboration, and problem-solving. Academic staff may also lack sufficient institutional support and opportunities to update their knowledge and pedagogical practices, especially when administrative tasks become enormous that lecturers are unable to concentrate on research. Under these circumstances, even a course widely regarded as prestigious can be delivered in ways that make its graduates ill-prepared for contemporary challenges.
The situation calls for a more deliberate approach to university planning. Every programme should have clearly defined learning outcomes, adequate facilities, appropriate instructional materials, qualified personnel, and assessment methods suited to its disciplinary requirements. Universities should establish stronger partnerships with industries, public institutions, local communities, and research organisations without reducing education to immediate market demands. They must also embrace interdisciplinary learning, digital literacy, practical engagement, and context-sensitive research. Above all, the curriculum must connect global knowledge to Nigerian realities, recognising that solutions imported from other societies may require adaptation to local languages, cultures, resources, institutions, and development priorities.
Government, university administrators, academics, employers, and society must consequently reconsider the tendency to blame unemployment and underdevelopment on the mere existence of particular courses. Graduate unemployment is influenced by numerous factors, including economic conditions, limited job creation, weak industrial capacity, inadequate career guidance, and mismatches between training and available opportunities. Closing programmes without addressing these underlying conditions may simply relocate the problem rather than solve it.
Ultimately, no university course should be presumed irrelevant merely because its traditional career pathways have narrowed or its title does not reflect the latest technological trend. The more productive question is whether the programme has been properly planned, adequately supported, competently delivered, and intelligently adapted to contemporary needs. Where deficiencies exist, reform should precede rejection.
A university is not merely a factory for producing workers for currently fashionable occupations. It is also a centre for generating knowledge, questioning assumptions, developing human capacities, preserving cultural heritage, and preparing society for problems that have not yet emerged. Nigeria’s higher education challenge, therefore, is not simply to determine which courses should survive, but to create the conditions under which every defensible discipline can justify its existence and contribute to national development. The course of study may matter, but the system that gives it life matters far more.
(c) 2026 Ganiu Bamgbose writes from Lagos.
Ganiu Abisoye Bamgbose, PhD
Department of English,
Lagos State University, Ojo
[email protected]
08093695359, 07084956118
