By Emmanuella Jibeze
The National Universities Commission, NUC has approved the unbundling of Mass Communication department, University of Nigeria, Nsukka into a faculty.
The body which is in charge of accreditations in all tertiary institutions in the country visited the University of Nigeria, Nsukka on the 13th April, 2026, going through series of inspections in the Department of Mass Communication.
However, the unbundling is set to be effective with the incoming undergraduate next academic session.
In an interview, with the Head Of Department, Prof. Micheal O. Ukonu, he stressed that the unbundling will help students focus on their particular course of study as mass communication is seen as a broad course made of different fields.
“When you graduate before this unbundling, you will receive a BA in mass communication; the bachelors will be in mass communication and that will authorize you to practice in any area of mass communication, advertising public relations, strategic communication, journalism, and the rest of it but the unbundling says no more.
“It’s now an issue of communication and media studies as a faculty, even though the university unbundled us, yet those things are still programs under mass communication as a parent department. But what happens is that when you come in now, you are admitted to the department of advertising, department of broadcasting department of public relations, department of journalism and media studies so that when you are graduating you get a bachelor in any of the field.”
Students from the department expressed their views on the unbundling. Nwachukwu Chukwuemeka, from third year expressed his views stating:
“My idea on the unbundling is that it actually make sense, an individual gets to prioritize one aspects of communication and develop it very very well, be it broadcasting, journalism, photojournalism and the rest. The new method says you write your jamb when you get admission you get to study one aspect of communication and you will be known for that aspect of communication, so to me it’s more precise but having a rounded knowledge on communication is still good and I hope that after the unbundling, they can still touch some aspects while focusing on their main aspects of communication”
Onyekachi Emmanuel, from final year expressed his views stating that the unbundling will make incoming mass communication students limited to one course.
“The unbundling is unnecessary because every student needs to have a skill not just specifically in one road but in a diverse space, now that they are unbundling, the students won’t have skills in every area of communication”
Asking the Head of Department on the challenges faced during the unbundling, he said:
“The most significant challenges if we are talking about challenges now is maybe let me borrow the words of one of the NUC team person, he said that mass communication is cost intensive and the intensity of the cost rises with the fluidity of the field, it is a field in steady flux. It’s always changing always changing. Today you get this kind of camera tomorrow they bring another one, today you have this type of microphone tomorrow it’s another one, today it’s this application the other day it is the other app and everybody is in that constant struggle to stay up to the minute. The equipment is there we have them but the problem is how do they compete with the great fluidity in the line with what technology is throwing at us? That’s the challenge that we face and we also dealing with that challenge by trying to be apt in our decision on the kind of equipment to get so that we get trending equipment that can help us you know remain relevance.”
With the unbundling, Mass Communication Department, University of Nigeria, Nsukka is set to be among sister mass communication departments in other institutions that has so far unbundled their departments to faculty as endorsed and approved by the National Universities Commission (NUC).
