From Dream To Reality: High Hopes, Fear Over UNN Faculty Of Mass Communication P

As the first college of journalism in West Africa, established in 1961, and the first indigenous university in Nigeria, it was expected that the mass communication department at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) would be among the pioneers in unbundling mass communication department for professionalism and specialisation, in line with societal trends. According to Prof. Michael Ukonu, of the aforementioned department, technology has drastically impacted the field of mass communication to the extent that the concept of “mass communication” itself has been redefined, necessitating unbundling. Reports revealed that in 2019, the National Universities Commission (NUC) proposed the idea of unbundling mass communication departments across Nigerian institutions to meet the current demand in university education and keep up with global development and best practices. Meanwhile, as far back as 2016, and even before the 2019 NUC initiative, the mass communication department at UNN had been making arrangements with the alumni of the department to get the required infrastructure ready for unbundling. However, a lack of funding to construct buildings and acquire necessary equipment remained a major obstacle to becoming a full-fledged faculty. Having realized the importance of becoming a faculty, the department had not only sought the school senate’s approval but has been persistent in making plans with the alumni to acquire the necessary infrastructure as Dr. Nwachukwu stated, “The alumni have raised some funds, but what they raised was not enough.”

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