Abstract:

A new world is emerging where massive data drives everything, including communication. Today, global obligation to study big data necessitates a reassessment of local communication syllabuses. This study examines the curricula content of communication studies in three leading universities in Nigeria, applying the 2017 global webometric ranking results as the key selection benchmark. Using the framing procedure, the study content analyses the prospectuses of University of Ibadan, a federal university; Covenant University, a private university; and Lagos State University, a State-owned university. Research result shows that data supporting statistics courses are taught but none of the universities currently teaches big data either as a course or a module in their communication programmes. It concludes that given the pedigree of most of the faculty members profiled, big data may have been discussed in the course of teaching; however, there is the need to rethink the course layouts to house big data as a sequence in Nigerian universities. It recommends that the National Universities Commission and other stakeholders should quickly review communication syllabuses to accommodate big data studies in order to improve the global competitiveness of Nigerian universities and the students.