The Director of the National Broadcast Academy (NBA), Dr. Samuel Anyanwu, has presented a proposal for strategic academic partnership with the University of Lagos, aimed at equipping mass communication students with hands-on broadcast training to enhance their employability in Nigeria’s fast evolving media industry.
Speaking during a courtesy visit to the Department of Mass Communication, University of Lagos (UNILAG), where he was received by Dr. Samuel Nwanna on behalf of the Dean of the faculty, Professor Oloruntola Sunday, Dr. Anyanwu underscored the need for synergy between academic institutions and professional broadcast training outfits.
“We are not trying to downplay the excellent work already being done in the department,” Dr. Anyanwu said, “but we offer a focused and structured training programme that complements academic learning with practical media experience.”
Dr. Anyanwun said that the proposed collaboration would allow UNILAG Mass Communication graduates to earn a professional certificate from the Academy in addition to their university degree which will prepare them for specialized careers as on-air personalities, news reporters, producers, and media technicians among other broadcast fields.
According to Dr. Anyanwu, the Academy offers training in journalism, presentation, production, broadcast engineering, and digital marketing which reflects the demands of a media landscape increasingly driven by digital innovation and internet technology.
Also speaking, the Academy’s Director of Academic Planning, Princess Adenike Adegoke, says NBA’s programmes are offered at three levels of basic, intermediate, and advanced courses .
“Recent additions include creative writing, forward speaking, broadcast operations management, and integrated workshops focused on current media realities.” Princess Adegoke said.
A lecturer in the Academy’s Journalism Department, Mrs. Yemisi Adisa, further emphasized the Academy’s commitment to bridging the gap between theory and practice.
“Our students are trained by practitioners drawn from functional FM stations, We move them from classroom theory to real-world application and from writing news and editorials to understanding newsroom dynamics.”
The meeting also became a forum for deep reflection on the threat posed by artificial intelligence (AI) to media jobs. Dr. Samuel Nwanna, who received the proposal on behalf of the faculty, acknowledged the growing anxiety among students regarding job security in the digital age.
He shared his classroom observations, noting that many students question the relevance of spending four years studying journalism when AI tools can now perform core media functions like headline writing, content generation, and even audio production.
“Today, some media houses already use AI-generated content,” Dr. Nwanna said.
“We’re seeing robot anchors and automated editing tools. The fear among students is real with impressions that machines may soon replace reporters, editors, and even producers.”
He called for a robust training curriculum that prepares students not only to coexist with AI, but to outperform it by emphasizing creativity, ethical reasoning, and human-centered storytelling.
Dr. Nwanna, who contributed to developing UNILAG’s journalism curriculum, stressed that any partnership must acknowledge these emerging threats. He welcomed NBA’s initiative, describing it as timely and potentially transformative for media education in Nigeria.
“We need a curriculum that assures students they will remain relevant and that no robot can replace the insight of a trained human journalist,” he said.
In their submissions, a Lecturer of ICT Department at the Academy, Mrs. Nike Alayande said the academy is striving to overcome and adapt to the Al challenge while the Bursar, Mrs. Oluwa kemi Idowu noted that AI is already posing threat even to the accounting profession.
The visit ended with NBA officials submitting a formal proposal to the faculty. Dr. Anyanwu requested that a joint committee be established to review the proposal and explore possible areas of collaboration. He expressed optimism that the partnership, if approved, would be mutually beneficial and position Nigerian media graduates for global competitiveness.
The NBA, which serves as the training arm of the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN), was established in 1957 and is widely regarded as the foremost broadcast training school in the country.
Reporting by Niran Odufayo