Friday, May 22, 2026 -The Academic Staff Union of Universities has warned the federal government against plans to scrap courses it described as “irrelevant” in Nigerian universities.
The union, under its Bauchi Zone, issued the warning during
a press conference in Bauchi on Wednesday, where it drew attention to issues
threatening industrial harmony in the university system.
Speaking during the briefing, the Zonal Coordinator of ASUU
Bauchi Zone, Comrade Namo Timothy, described the federal government’s recent
pronouncement on scrapping some courses in public universities as “bizarre.”
The Federal Government had, on April 26, 2026, during the
“Renewed Hope Conversation” with students of the University of Abuja, announced
plans to phase out courses considered irrelevant to the country’s economic
future from the university system.
The Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, had said the era of
studying courses with limited real-world value was ending, adding that the
government was intensifying efforts to align university education with labour
market demands and global trends.
Reacting to the development, Timothy faulted the minister’s
position, insisting that every course in the university system has societal and
economic relevance.
He said, “The minister claimed that mass production of
graduates in social sciences and humanities is compounding the problem of
unemployment and youth restiveness in the country.
“He reasoned that scrapping such courses was part of a
comprehensive plan to align Nigeria’s education system with labour market
demands, global standards, and trends in research, innovation, and development.
“We make bold to state that every course in the university
has its utilitarian values both in personal and societal spheres. After all,
the foundation for cultivation of core competences classified as 21st century
or soft skills — critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, communication
and digital literacy — are laid by the so-called useless courses like
philosophy, religious studies, linguistics and fine arts.”
Timothy further argued that unemployment in the country
could not be blamed solely on graduates of social sciences and humanities.
“Who told the Honourable Minister that only graduates of
Social Sciences and Humanities are unemployed in Nigeria? To attribute mass
unemployment to studying ‘irrelevant courses’ is to over-simplify a complex
economic management problem,” he added.
The union maintained that it would resist any attempt to
scrap academic programmes in Nigerian universities.
“ASUU rejects any attempt to scrap academic programmes in
Nigerian universities and shall work with pro-people organisations to
vehemently resist it,” Timothy vowed.
The union also decried what it described as the distorted
and non-implementation of the December 2025 FGN/ASUU Agreement by both the
federal and state governments.
According to ASUU, unresolved issues include the
three-and-a-half-month withheld salaries, promotion arrears, salary shortfalls
arising from the use of the IPPIS platform, unremitted third-party deductions
and arrears of the 23/35 per cent wage award.
The union warned that the growing frustration among
academics could trigger another round of industrial unrest if the issues were
not urgently addressed.
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