The Fourth Vice-Chancellor of the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), Prof. Abdalla Uba Adamu, has warned that Nigerian universities risk becoming irrelevant if they continue to prioritise certificates over skills in an era shaped by artificial intelligence and global uncertainty.
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Adamu gave the warning on Tuesday, while delivering a valedictory presentation to the Governing Council of NOUN on the occasion of the exit ceremony of the outgoing Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Olufemi Peters.
Speaking on the theme “How Should the University of Tomorrow Look Like?”, Adamu said higher education in Nigeria and much of the Global South remains trapped in what he described as an intensified form of “diploma disease” — an overdependence on credentials that no longer guarantee employment or relevance.
“The diploma disease has not disappeared; it has changed its form,” he said. “Credentials are accumulated not because they guarantee opportunity, but because the absence of credentials almost certainly guarantees marginality.”
Drawing from the work of British scholar Ron Dore, Adamu argued that certificates have become a form of social insurance rather than a pathway to clear careers.
He noted that education now functions as “a defence against exclusion” in a world of shrinking job security and opaque labour markets.
He cited Kano State as an example of what he called a structural contradiction. Despite having 14 universities — six public and eight private — Adamu said none is dedicated to computer science or ICT.
“With the exception of Elrazi Medical University, they are teaching a menu of the same courses,” he said, describing it as evidence of an obsession with certification rather than relevance.
Adamu said technology, particularly artificial intelligence, has fundamentally altered how value is created, including outside the university system. “A WAEC dropout with a cheap phone, strong internet connection, curiosity in AI and a TikTok account can earn more per month than a senior professor,” he said, noting that while such content may not advance education, it reflects powerful market forces.
He urged universities to reposition themselves as open “knowledge ecosystems” rather than closed institutions, focusing on future-oriented skills such as critical thinking, digital and AI fluency, creativity, ethical reasoning, emotional intelligence and career agility.
According to him, the university of the future must teach students “how to learn, unlearn and relearn,” instead of training them for single, static careers.
Adamu also remarked that universities must move beyond defending old models and instead reimagine themselves as engines of societal renewal.
“Universities are no longer just centres of knowledge; they are launchpads for lifelong adaptability,” he said, warning that institutions unable to innovate for real-world challenges “are not universities the 21st century calls for.”
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