Renowned poet and scholar, Professor Niyi Osundare, has criticised the recently introduced Core Curriculum and Minimum Academic Standards (CCMAS) of the Federal Government, describing it as flawed and detrimental to the intellectual independence of Nigerian universities.
Osundare, who exclusively spoke to PrimeStar News on the policy, which replaced the Benchmark Minimum Academic Standards (BMAS), noted that several provisions in the new framework were poorly conceived and disconnected from the realities of academic practice.
“There are lapses in the CCMAS that need to be addressed. For example, there is something called entrepreneurial literature. What does that mean? It doesn’t make any sense”, he said.
The professor of English further faulted the provision that prescribes the teaching of creative writing from the first year of university study.
According to him, such a requirement overlooks the need for students to first build strong foundations in language use before venturing into advanced writing.
“You cannot begin to teach creative writing to 120 students who have just left secondary school. At the University of Ibadan (UI), Professor Isidore Okpewho and I structured it carefully – English 216 as preliminary creative writing, English 350 intermediate, and English 445 advanced creative writing. That is how it should be done”, Osundare argued.
Beyond content issues, Osundare raised concerns about the broader implications of the CCMAS on the autonomy of universities.
He lamented that academic freedom was being eroded as universities were compelled to follow directives from Abuja rather than designing and defending their own curricula.
“All these ideas of teaching whatever the National Universities Commission (NUC0 asks you to teach – what happens to the universities’ autonomy? What about intellectual autonomy?” he asked.
“The universities we attended set out their curricula and could defend them anywhere. Now, universities have become sorry servants of federal bureaucracy. It shouldn’t work that way”, he added.
The poet-professor also warned against a one-size-fits-all academic system, insisting that diversity in curriculum design is central to the essence of higher education lamenting, “All the universities will be teaching the same thing at the same time. It doesn’t make sense,” he said.
Osundare’s remarks add to growing debates over the CCMAS, which the Federal Government says is aimed at standardising learning outcomes across Nigerian universities, but which many academics fear may stifle innovation and weaken academic freedom.
