Higher Education Is A Scam: A Critical Media And Websites Analysis Of Constructing Higher Education And An Ideal Student In Nigeria


Yusuf Olaniyan, University of Bath

Recently, Nigeria witnessed the shocking reality of a graduate whose case generated massive attention in the media. Oludare, a university graduate, challenged the university by returning his certificate and requesting a refund because to him, the education he received added no value to his life. "The certificate we are collecting in Nigeria now is a scam; I keep my certificate inside since it is of no use to me”… I am suffering; take your certificate, return my money", he repeatedly lamented in the viral video" (Vangardngr, 2022, p.1). Oludare was not merely another face in the crowd of graduates, distinguishable only by the varying colours of their academic gowns. He was a man who became a symbol of an undercurrent of discontent that had been growing for years beneath the veneer of the neoliberalised and internationalised ontologically driven system of Nigerias HE (Chukwu, 2020; Stephen et al., 2022; Adesina, 2006). In this marketised model, a degree is commodified and viewed as a transactional entity that should guarantee a return on investment - in this case, improved employability and income prospects (Mogaji et al., 2020; Oludeyi, 2022; Nwagwu, 2020; Binuomoyo, 2020; Wong et al., 2020). His lament, “I am suffering”, resonated with the sentiments of countless others feeling similarly let down by their HE (Adegbite, 2022, p.1). The incongruity between the perceived value of the degree and the actual return on investment deepens the sense of disillusionment, exacerbating feelings of being cheated or scammed. This is arguably a consequence of the consumerist education model, where a narrow focus on employment outcomes overshadows the value of knowledge and learning (Brooks et al., 2023; Tomlinson, 2017; Bamberger et al., 2019; Wong et al., 2020). While much research has studied the challenges and transformational aspects of HE in Nigeria (see Okebukola, 2006; Ogunode et al., 2021; Jaja, 2013; Uduk, 2016; Oni et al., 2010; Ogunode and Musa, 2020; Asiyai, 2013; Ogunode et al., 2023), only a few have explored how HE and an ideal student is being constructed in public discourse. Ademilokun et al. (2023) recently took stock of the discursive branding of HE in Nigeria and found seven branding identities used by Nigerian universities to marketise themselves, but this study does not combine media and universities websites to explore these branding identities. Therefore, this unattended need has instigated the importance of examining this issue from a different theoretical and methodological lens. This research used Critical Discourse Analysis and Bourdieu’s “institutional habitus” and “Social Magic” to unpack the construction of HE and an “ideal student” from an academic capitalism philosophical paradigm. It makes an original contribution to policy and sociological studies of inequalities by suturing the intersectionalities of globalisation, neoliberalism and internationalisation. The finding shows a hegemonic construction of HE and an “ideal student” in Nigeria, where academics and the government have prominent voices in the media. These voices construct HE and an “ideal student” as the ones driven by globalisation, neoliberalism and internationalisation ontologies. Global forces positioning HE as service providers delivering skills and qualifications in exchange for fees, and blurring the normativity of the “ideal” conception of students to the ones who have the “real currency” or conform to the philosophical architects of academic capitalism. A redefinition of “ideal employment” or ‘manpower" as synonymous with “decent jobs” was also found, a Euro-America metric to measure employability and job satisfaction. This study is considered as “Unlocking a Door to a Corridor of Many Rooms” because it only scratched the surface and opened further research recommending the representation of silenced voices in this discourse for policy change and practice, especially with decolonial praxis as a response to academic capitalism. With its connection to the theme of this conference on the neolibralisation of HE, this research holds “elephantic” weight, because it unravels the explicit and implicit suppositions about the universal construction of student and HE in a developing nation like Nigeria, “whose universities are found on the colonial structure and still entangled with the remnants of post-colonial legacies” (Livsey, 2017, 2014). It also carries importance in understanding the alignment between the portrayal of students on university websites, the policy makers perspective, and the interpretations of other crucial societal actors such as the media.

This paper will be presented at the following session: