NUC Adds One New Department to Unbundled Mass Communication Programme, Total Now Eight New Programmes

As part of the unbundling of Mass Communication programme in Nigeria, the National Universities Commission (NUC) has approved the addition of a new department to the School of Media and Communication Studies, bringing the total of new programmes to eight.

The new programme is Strategic Communication. There will now be department of Strategic Communication in addition to other seven departments – Advertising, Public Relations, Broadcasting, Film and Multi-Media Studies, Journalism and Media Studies, Information and Media Studies, and Development Communication.

MassmediaNG investigations revealed that the NUC is at the final stages of making the new department an official part of the eight programmes to replace Mass Communication in Nigeria after which a letter would be officially sent to Universities in the country to begin the unbundling process.

National President of African Council for Communication Education (ACCE), Prof. Nnamdi Ekeanyanwu told MassmediaNG in an exclusive interview that he is aware of the new programme, adding that in a few weeks time the NUC will officially make the announcement together with the official release of letters to various universities on the commencement of the unbundling exercise.

Ekeanyanwu who is one of the very few communication scholars in West Africa who specialize in Strategic Communication, explained that the course is a very interesting one, having contents that reflect evolving trends in today’s communication environment.

According to Ekeanyanwu, “I tell you, this is a very interesting area to go into. This course has a bit of advertising, public relations, integrated marketing communications and all about the use of social media in engaging strategic audience members. It is almost a done deal. The new programmes in the unbundling exercise are now eight; I can assure you.”

Ekeanyanwu’s areas of interest include international relations and strategic communication.

Strategic communication deals with persuasive communication skills which combines diverse fields of communication in engaging the audiences.

 

READ ALSO:About Strategic Communication Programme in Nigerian Universities

 

It could be recalled that the NUC had in December 2019, announced the decision to unbundle some departments in the nation’s university system to make them complete faculties. Among these departments are Mass Communication, Computer Science, Agriculture, and Architecture.