ASUU kicks against planned removal of ‘irrelevant’ varsity courses, says no programme is useless

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has cautioned the federal government against its plan to scrap certain courses deemed irrelevant in Nigerian universities, insisting that every academic programme has value in society.

The union’s Bauchi Zone made its position known on Wednesday during a press conference in Bauchi, where it raised concerns over several issues threatening industrial peace in the nation’s university system.

Speaking at the briefing, the Zonal Coordinator, Comrade Namo Timothy, described the government’s recent pronouncement on phasing out some courses as “bizarre.”

The federal government had on April 26, 2026, during a “Renewed Hope Conversation” with students of the University of Abuja, announced its intention to eliminate courses considered irrelevant to the country’s economic future. The Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, had argued that the era of studying programmes with limited real-world value was ending, adding that efforts were being intensified to align university education with labour market demands and global trends.

However, ASUU faulted the minister’s position, arguing that unemployment cannot be blamed solely on graduates of social sciences and humanities.

According to Timothy, the minister had claimed that mass production of social sciences and humanities graduates was compounding unemployment and youth restiveness. He further quoted the minister as saying that scrapping such courses was part of a broader plan to align Nigeria’s education system with labour market needs and global standards.

But the union insisted that every university course has utilitarian value, both personally and societally. Timothy noted that the foundation for 21st-century soft skills such as critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, communication, and digital literacy is actually laid by so-called “useless” courses like philosophy, religious studies, linguistics, and fine arts.

He also challenged the notion that only graduates of social sciences and humanities face unemployment, stating that attributing mass joblessness to studying irrelevant courses oversimplifies a complex economic management problem.

ASUU vowed to resist any attempt to scrap academic programmes in Nigerian universities, promising to work with pro-people organisations to oppose such a move.

The union further expressed dissatisfaction over what it called the distorted and non-implementation of the December 2025 agreement between the federal government and ASUU. Unresolved issues include three-and-a-half months of withheld salaries, promotion arrears, salary shortfalls from the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) platform, unremitted third-party deductions, and arrears of the 23/35 per cent wage award.

ASUU warned that growing frustration among academics could trigger another round of industrial unrest if these issues are not urgently addressed.

The union appealed to stakeholders, well-meaning Nigerians, and the press to prevail on both federal and state governments to fully implement the 2025 agreement and resolve all outstanding matters in the national interest.