HONORARY TITLES CAN WAIT, NIGERIA’S OUTDATED SCHOOL CURRICULUM NEEDS URGENT ATTENTIONS
By Tijjani Sarki
This week, the Federal Government, through the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, alongside the Minister of State for Education, Prof. Suwaiba Ahmad, frowned at the growing misuse of honorary doctorate degrees and the indiscriminate use of the “Dr.” title by recipients. The development has sparked conversations across Nigeria.
Certainly, academic integrity must be protected. Honorary awards should never become symbols of social competition or shortcuts to prestige. But while the nation debates titles, a far more dangerous crisis continues quietly inside our classrooms.
Nigeria’s education system is gradually losing relevance before our eyes.
Today, subjects like Civic Education, Social Studies, Agricultural Science, Computer Studies, and Integrated Science in many secondary schools have become outdated, repetitive, and disconnected from the realities of the modern world. Students spend years memorizing theories that offer little practical value in today’s technology-driven economy.
Our Civic Education barely teaches digital citizenship, cyber ethics, media literacy, or responsible engagement in the modern democratic space. Social Studies continues recycling old topics while ignoring emerging social realities shaping the lives of young people.
Agricultural Science remains largely trapped in traditional methods at a time when the world is embracing smart farming, mechanized agriculture, climate technology, food processing, and agricultural innovation.
Then comes Computer Studies, perhaps the most painful example of how far behind we have fallen.
In an era dominated by Artificial Intelligence, robotics, coding, cybersecurity, cloud computing, and data science, many Nigerian students are still being taught only the basic parts of a computer. Thousands graduate from secondary school without practical digital skills, without exposure to innovation, and without the knowledge required to compete globally.
Integrated Science, too, has remained heavily theoretical, encouraging memorization rather than experimentation, creativity, and problem-solving.
This is the real emergency Nigerians expected the government to confront with urgency.
The world is moving at extraordinary speed, yet our curriculum remains trapped in the past. While other nations are preparing students for the future, many Nigerian children are still being prepared for a world that no longer exists.
The painful reality is that many young Nigerians now acquire relevant knowledge outside the classroom through online platforms, social media, and informal learning centers. That alone is a clear indictment of our education system.
Education should not merely produce certificate holders. It should produce innovators, critical thinkers, entrepreneurs, creators, and solution providers.
Madam Minister, the concern over honorary doctorates may be justified, but the deeper crisis lies in what millions of Nigerian children are being taught daily in schools across the country.
What Nigerians hoped to hear this week were bold policies on curriculum reform, digital literacy, vocational innovation, Artificial Intelligence, entrepreneurship, practical science education, and technology-driven learning.
Because the damage is already enormous.
Every year meaningful reforms are delayed, another generation risks becoming unprepared for the realities of a competitive global economy.
History will not remember how strongly we fought against honorary titles. History will remember whether we had the courage to rescue an education system that desperately needs transformation.
Tijjani Sarki
Good Governance Advocate and Public Policy Analyst
From the Ancient City of Kano
17th May, 2026
