When Chief Olusegun Obasanjo in his hey days as the president of the
country told a visiting delegation of Nigerians in the diaspora that, “It is mis-
education for anyone to offer Mass Communication as a course of study in the
university”, many communication undergraduates and graduates thought, as
implied in their acerbic replies, particularly through diverse social media
platforms, that his comment was a calculated attempt to disparage Mass
Communication as a course of study and as a profession.
As if what he said was not enough, he went further to say that "some people
came to me and they said they have two Masters degrees and yet cannot find
a job. Then I asked them ‘What did you read’, and they replied Mass
Communication, the other one is Sociology. Then I told them, you are
uneducated.
You have now to go and be re-educated, to create value for your skill.” I
must confess at this juncture that at the time the comment, which was
widely seen as a smear campaign by an engineer and condemned by many
mass communicators and journalists in the country was made, that I was not
offended by the comment, as I was very sure that I never in the least chose a
wrong career path. Be that as it may, the stark reality of what the former
president said some years ago is today unarguably glaring for thousands of
mass communication graduates to see.
As it seems, many people are ignorant of the fact that Mass Communication
graduates have the career choice of venturing into advertising, broadcast
journalism, blogging, digital media and electronic media production. But the
fact is that they are never taught in the school on how they can veer into
the foregoing allied profession. Worse still, those that can be said to be fast
learners and certified in other professions cannot be said to have added
impetus to their employability. There is no denying the fact that a working
knowledge of, say, Personal Secretaryship or Sales/Marketing is enough to
put a Mass communication graduate on a good pedestal to create value with
his communication skill. But alas!

Many of them are not given the opportunities to apply their transferable
skills into other professions they find themselves. In the same nexus, most
employers see them as not being confidential enough to be trusted with
sensitive documents, correspondences or information. The reason for this
virtue cannot be far-fetched as a Mass Communicator is suspiciously seen by
many as an “Amebo”. But this impression is erroneous as mass
communicators are equally trained and ethically bound like secretaries not to
abuse privilege information. It is for this reason that media law and ethics is
made a compulsory course in all mass communication schools.
Mass Communicators do not mishandle information as many people,
particularly executives in the corporate world are wont to believe. Also,
despite the fact that the knowledge which a Mass Communication graduate is
imbued with have equipped him with the skills of analyzing price, demand and
competition as well as presenting ideas and promotional strategies, he is not
favorably considered for Sales/Marketing Executive jobs. At this juncture, it
is not out of place for anyone to ask “Why can’t Mass Communication
graduates not look for jobs in either the print or the broadcast industry?” It
is also not out of place for anyone to ask “Why can’t Mass Communication
graduates not search for jobs in the marketing communication sub –sector?”
The fact is that the windows of opportunities are seemingly shut against Mass
Communicators that are rookies.
In the mainstream media and allied professions like public relations and
advertising, t is not false to say that most practitioners are wont to arrogate
professional knowledge to themselves as if green horns would never understand
what they do. The same still applies in the print and broadcast sub-sector so
much so that they are faced with the same old hands recycling their services
from one media organization to the other. With this ugly development, the
opportunities of new entries who would have brought innovations and
creativities into the media sector are limited. In the same vein, staffing in
public relations departments or units in most corporate organizations are
exclusively reserved for those that are somewhat seen to have endless and
door-opening contacts in the media. With this, most employers believe that
engaging experienced public relations practitioners will put their press releases
on a smooth sailing pedestal. As ignorant as most of them are, a press release
gets a smooth sailing treatment only when it is well written with credible
content and dispatch through due process.
Despite the fact that effective verbal and nonverbal communication skills are
valuable in the workplace, and that some companies spend a lot of money to
train their employees on how to effectively communicate, a company top
executive who this writer once worked with as a Personal Assistant once chide
him in pidgin English “Mr. Isaac, nor blow grammar too much, you think say
na grammar I take open this company?” This is one of the problems Mass
Communication graduates are facing in the corporate world. Even some Chief
Executive Officers see communication as an inconsequential and this always
make them to pay less attention to advertising and public relations budgets.
At this juncture, it is not an exaggeration to say that the foregoing
viewpoints encapsulate the stark realities which Mass Communication
graduates are facing in the labor market.
In my view, Mass Communication graduates, who are majorly youths, should
be assisted by employers in the media sector through the creation of jobs
without unnecessarily mounting brickwall against them. They should be
employed, trained and given the opportunity to practice. The reason for this
cannot be far-fetched as work experience is never acquired as an
undergraduate. To me, some modicum of moral and social considerations
should be literarily injected into some aspects of employment policies and
decisions to catch up with the exigencies of social responsibilities. On the
other hand, employers in non media organizations should stop being biased and
suspicious of Mass Communication graduates that are willing to work with
them as Secretaries, Marketers and corporate communicators.
Finally, Mass Communication outlines that are currently been used across
polytechnics, monotechnics and universities in the country should be modified
in such a way that mass comm. graduates are imbued with entrepreneurial
skills, particularly in the area of book publishing, blogging and marketing
communication. As it is now, it is like much emphasis is laid on producing
Mass Communication graduates that can write and speak rather than
teaching them how to create wealth and job opportunities and in turn feed
themselves and their dependents through creativity and innovation.

Lalasticlala mynd44 I think you should see this

And today's art student don't want to learn,being an art student,I have always say and will always say "mass communication",english language and literature are the last course I can study in my dept...I still prefer "international relations".

This is someone's term paper posted up here right?!


Educational service providers should source for the Training Curricular employed by organizations like PEFTI, PanAfrican University & co.
It will not only broaden their outlook, empower them with immediately marketable skills but also have developed their initiative to levels where they become self-starters and possible employers of labour in the shortest possible time after graduation.

Associated courses like Printing Technology, Graphics Design should be imparted in the most hands-on way possible.

Course specializations like Public Relations & Advertising should be merged curricular-wise plus core aspects of Marketing thrown in for good measure. For example, it was always a surprise to me that Mass Comm. students couldn't do some prepare Market Reaearch / Feasibility Reports complete with periodic projections, unassisted! I always wondered why the curriculum was that stripped-down!

Just my thoughts anyway