Ex-NOUN VC warns universities risk irrelevance over certificate obsession
A former Vice-Chancellor of the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), Prof. Abdalla Uba Adamu, has warned that Nigerian universities risk losing relevance if they continue to prioritise certificates over skills. Adamu, the fourth Vice Chancellor of NOUN, gave the warning during a valedictory presentation to the university’s Governing Council at the exit ceremony of […]
Professor Abdalla Uba Adamu
A former Vice-Chancellor of the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), Prof. Abdalla Uba Adamu, has warned that Nigerian universities risk losing relevance if they continue to prioritise certificates over skills.
Adamu, the fourth Vice Chancellor of NOUN, gave the warning during a valedictory presentation to the university’s Governing Council at the exit ceremony of the outgoing ViceChancellor, Prof. Olufemi Peters.
Speaking on the theme “How Should the University of Tomorrow Look Like?”, he said higher education in Nigeria and much of the Global South remains trapped in an intensified form of what he described as “diploma disease.”
“The diploma disease has not disappeared; it has merely changed form,” he said, noting that certificates are now accumulated more as protection against exclusion than as guarantees of employment.
Drawing on the work of British scholar Ron Dore, Adamu said credentials have become a form of social insurance in a labour market marked by shrinking job security.
He cited Kano State as an example, noting that despite having 14 universities, none is dedicated to computer science or ICT.
“They teach largely the same courses, reflecting an obsession with certification rather than relevance,” he said.
Adamu stressed that technology and artificial intelligence have transformed how value is created, often outside the university system.
He urged universities to reposition themselves as open knowledge ecosystems focused on future-oriented skills such as critical thinking, digital and AI literacy, creativity, ethical reasoning and adaptability, warning that institutions unable to evolve risk being left behind.