"USELESS COURSE" OR "USELESS CURRICULUM"?

 

Why Nigeria Must Stop Funding Degrees That Don’t Build the Nation

Last week, a University of Ibadan (UI) graduate went viral. Not for fraud. Not for a scandal. But for success.

Rofiat Akinpelu studied Islamic Studies at UI. While she was there, someone told her younger brother: “Study hard so that you can feed your sister in the future. She’s studying a useless course and may never get a job.”

She graduated in December 2016 as the Best Graduating Student in Islamic Studies. Ten years later, she bagged a Master’s degree from Miva Open University. Today, she works in healthcare marketing after successful stints in operations, communications, project management, PR, and digital marketing.

Her words: “Many people had already decided how my story would end… The problem was that people assumed my future had already been written.”

Rofiat’s story is a victory. But it is also an indictment.


1. The 10-Year Question: Why Should Any Degree Take a Decade to “Make Sense”?

For the average Nigerian parent paying tuition, hostel fees, and buying handouts, university is an investment. Return on Investment (ROI) is not optional.

Rofiat didn’t wait 10 years to start working; she pivoted early. But how many Christian Religious Studies (CRS), Islamic Religious Studies (IRS), Philosophy, or History graduates from the class of 2016 are still underemployed? National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) data shows that humanities graduates face twice the unemployment rate of Engineering graduates.

If a course requires a Master’s, a PhD, and "connections" before it can feed you, then the taxpayer is funding delay, not development.


2. The UI Advantage: Would This Happen Without the Premier University?

Let’s be honest. Rofiat represented UI at the Hult Prize Challenge regional finals in Boston. That is the power of the UI network. A Diploma in Islamic Studies from a local Madrasa will not get you to Boston or into healthcare marketing.

Therefore, we are not just funding “Islamic Studies.” We are funding the University of Ibadan brand, which launders the course into opportunity. Is that the best use of public funds?


3. Global Practice: What Do Serious Countries Do?

  • Saudi Arabia: King Saud University offers Islamic Studies, but it is strictly tied to Sharia Law, Arabic linguistics, and statecraft. It feeds Vision 2030, not just local mosques.

  • Israel: Hebrew University’s Jewish Studies program links directly to archaeology, diplomacy, and national identity. It is strategy, not sentiment.

  • Italy: Rome hosts Pontifical Universities for theology. Public universities do not duplicate these efforts; the Vatican foots the bill.

Nigeria does the opposite. We establish CRS and IRS departments as devotional degrees across more than 60 federal and state universities. We produce teachers for schools that already lack science labs, rather than policy analysts or experts in interfaith diplomacy.


4. The Philosophy Problem: 6-3-3-4 Promised Skills; We Delivered Papers

The National Policy on Education states that university education shall “develop and inculcate proper values for the survival of the individual and society.” This is noble. However, survival in 2026 means coding, agribusiness, biotechnology, renewable energy, and AI ethics.

The National Universities Commission (NUC) has approved 270 universities. How many have functional Research and Development (R&D) outputs? How many IRS departments have published counter-terrorism research in the last five years? If we cannot answer these questions, we are burning money.


5. The Reform Nigeria Needs Now

Rofiat’s personal agency saved her. However, national policy cannot depend on miracles. This is what genuine reform looks like:

  • A. Stop Duplicating Devotional Degrees: Move CRS and IRS programs to Colleges of Education, theological seminaries, or private, faith-based universities. If UI must run them, restructure the curriculum into fields like “Religion, Law & Society” or “Ethics & Conflict Resolution.”

  • B. Mandate “Skill Minors” for All BA/BSc Students: No student should graduate without a professional certification in Python, Data Analytics, Arabic/French, Digital Marketing, or Project Management. Saudi Arabia ties Islamic Studies to AI ethics; we can do the same.

  • C. Fund Outcomes, Not Existence: The NUC’s accreditation process should demand to know: “Where are your last five sets of graduates?” If 80% are unemployed or underemployed teaching in private secondary schools, merge the department or cut its funding.

  • D. Tier the System: Not every university needs to be a “comprehensive” institution. Research universities should handle R&D. State universities should offer workforce-driven degrees. Polytechnics should focus on applied technology. We cannot afford to fund 270 “UI wannabes.”


6. To Parents and 2026 JAMB Candidates

If JAMB offers you “Education and Christian Religious Studies” when you originally wanted Medicine, do not waste a year sitting at home. Go. Excel. Take free Google, Coursera, and Miva courses on the side. Rofiat utilized the Hult Prize at UI. You can leverage ALX, DataCamp, or FarmLab.

There are no useless courses. There are, however, useless curricula—and we fund them year after year.

The Bottom Line

Nigeria will not develop by mocking specific courses. But it will also not develop by funding degrees that end at the graduation gate. The future isn’t a battle between "useless courses" and "professional courses." It is a choice between a useful graduate and a certified liability.

Rofiat beat the odds. Let’s build a system where students don’t have to.

CampusDialog is a daily education and admissions advisory series guiding Nigerian parents, students, and schools through university choices, alternatives, and global trends.


Ambrose Odiase, FIPMA, MANUPA, MAUA (UK)

Founding Editor/Publisher, CampusDialog.blogspot.com

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