The past 20 years has brought unprecedented technological advancement. Technology has unleashed a creative and economic revolution, re-shaped the spaces in which we live and work. The educational sector has not been left behind. Competition demands productivity. Productivity is the key to advancement of any nation. As technology is moving at a speed to a large extent, dictates the pace of the modern world. As such, any nation that does not keep up will be obsolete.
There are various courses available, from online to summer courses, intensive courses all to keep up with this technology. Courses serve a multitude of purposes for different students: they are sometimes used to bridge the gap between different phases of academic study, or to provide additional professional training and qualifications. In recent times, courses have evolved beyond the regular Medicine and Surgery, Law, Accountancy and the likes. New courses are emerging to keep meeting the needs technology is creating. Schools are expanding to suit and accommodate these courses.
In today’s times where competition is at its peak, it is of utmost importance that students acquire the finest set of skills and are updated with the real time market needs. There are now courses in a wide variety of subjects which are relevant and in high demand in this 21st century. It is most likely that the demand will remain for the next two decades or more.
There however is a question on the minds of some people. How many Nigerian universities offer these courses? How many are ready for the revolution? Are there any plans to include these courses in Nigerian universities so that people can apply to study? Do we keep employing expatriates to do the jobs?
For most of these courses more people need to pay attention to them. They range from Cosmetology to Copy Writing, Food and beverage studies to Fashion. There is also Informatics and Data Analysis, Foreign languages, Risk management, Travel and Tourism, Robotics and Artificial intelligence (this covers a wide range of area to include (Virtual and augmented reality, Autonomous driving, Machine learning, Deep learning, Block chain), Programming, Cryptography, Economics and financial services, Data Analysis, Global health, Health Economics, Agile HR Analytics, Data Science, Media communications, Search Engine Optimisation, Project Management, Product Management, Content creation.
Some people leave the shores of the country to embrace technological advancement and study these courses. One of such people is Ebiere Orubide. She currently is in Netherlands, studying Cognitive Science and Artificial Intelligence (CSAI) at the Tilburg University. According to her,
“I found about it online. I was checking out Data Science, CSAI was advertised as something people check out alongside Data Science. I then became aware that there was something like CSAI and decided to go into it.”
One would wonder what CSAI is all about. Orubide gives a brief insight into it. “It’s the study of cognitive sciences and artificial intelligence. It aims to explore how we can eventually make computers and robots think like humans, to make smart systems even smarter. Seeing that this appears to be a new field and most likely unknown in Nigeria, she added that CSAI has job prospects in every industry you can think of, from Medicine to Media. Studying it will lead you to specialisation.
“I don’t know about any University in Nigeria that studies CSAI as a course currently. Maybe they study robotics as part of their computer science course, but I don’t know if there are departments dedicated to the study of artificial intelligence.”
Victor Nwogbo, a lecturer in the department of Mass Communication, University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) is also of the view that some courses in Nigeria has been over hyped and over rated. He said that is one of the reasons Mass Communication was broken into different smaller departments. They are: Journalism and Media Studies, Public Relations, Advertising, Broadcasting, Film and Multi-Media Studies, Development Communication Studies, Information and Media Studies.
One imagines if this break down into smaller departments will in anyway make students fit into 21st century jobs out there. Nwogbo agrees to this. “It is now believed that students will be able to perform better in specialised areas. They can now fit into specific roles in modern society like Advertising, Media Studies, ICT among others.”
In Nigeria, it isn’t certain how many schools whether government or private owned offer courses that can prepare one for 21st century jobs or when they will be ready to do that. There however are some certified institutions that teach and prepare people for such courses after which certificate is given.
One of such institutions is National Institute of Information Technology (NIIT) which is a global education oriented company focusing on computer knowledge and information technology. Another is Andela; an institution that trains and develops software developers. 
There are a number of them scattered in Nigeria especially in Lagos state. Michael Bassey, an ICT instructor said, “Young people can begin to scout for these courses instead of sitting and waiting for the regular courses. Technology is moving as fast as air. We need to leverage on this and learn so that we can still fit into the 21st job space even up to the next 2 decades.”
