The degree Nigeria keeps misjudging

How the digital economy is rewriting the value of an English degree

For years, the conventional wisdom surrounding an English degree in Nigeria has been remarkably consistent. It was seen as preparation for teaching, journalism, publishing or, for the fortunate few, a career in the civil service. Families often discouraged it, employers underestimated it and students treated it as a passion rather than a pathway to economic opportunity.

While public perception remained largely unchanged, the economy quietly rewrote the rules.

Across banking, technology, healthcare, consulting, development, entertainment and the global digital marketplace, communication has evolved from a support function into a strategic capability. Organisations now compete as much through the clarity of their ideas as through the quality of their products. In that transition, one of Nigeria’s most underestimated degrees has become unexpectedly relevant.

Obviously, the story is not really about English; rather, it is about how technological change is reshaping work, creating new forms of value and exposing how slowly universities, employers and society recognise economic transformation.

When communication became economic infrastructure
Nigeria’s economy once rewarded production more than explanation. Manufacturers built products. Banks processed transactions. Government delivered services. Communication largely entered the picture after the work had been done, usually through advertising, customer service or public relations.

However, digitalisation has fundamentally altered that equation. Today, products increasingly exist as experiences rather than physical objects. Banking happens on mobile phones. Healthcare consultations increasingly begin online. Government services are migrating onto digital platforms. Artificial intelligence powers everything from customer support to financial services. Every digital interaction depends on language that helps users understand, trust and navigate increasingly complex systems.

At the moment, communication is therefore no longer simply about promoting products. Simply put, it has become part of the product itself.

A confusing banking interface can lose customers. Poorly written health information can endanger patients. Weak product documentation can undermine sophisticated technology. In the digital economy, language has become infrastructure.

An expanding market hiding in plain sight
The consequence has been the quiet emergence of careers that barely existed when many Nigerian universities designed their programmes.

English graduates increasingly work as technical writers translating engineering and software into accessible language. Others specialise in user experience writing, deciding how millions of people interact with digital products. Many build careers in grant writing, policy research, executive communications, content strategy, editing, publishing and corporate affairs.

In addition to that, remote work has widened these opportunities even further. A graduate based in Enugu can produce documentation for a technology company in Canada. A communications specialist in Lagos can manage digital content for organisations in Europe. African storytelling has become globally marketable through streaming platforms, creating demand for scriptwriters capable of combining local authenticity with international audiences.

None of these opportunities depend merely on grammatical accuracy. To a large extent, they require professionals capable of organising complexity, interpreting context, anticipating misunderstanding and shaping trust through language.

Ironically, these have always been among the strongest intellectual foundations of an English education.

Why the perception gap persists
If the economy has changed so dramatically, why does the reputation of the degree remain largely unchanged?

Part of the explanation lies in institutional inertia. Public understanding of university degrees often reflects labour markets that existed a generation earlier rather than those emerging today. Parents continue advising children according to careers that shaped their own experience. Employers frequently recruit according to familiar labels instead of transferable capabilities. Universities themselves often continue presenting English primarily through traditional career pathways despite the expansion of communication-intensive industries.

The result is a mismatch between perception and reality. Many organisations search for professionals who can simplify complexity, communicate strategically and build public trust without recognising that these capabilities have long formed the intellectual core of English education.

Universities have not fully caught up
The challenge is not that English departments teach literature or linguistics only. Those disciplines remain central to developing analytical thinking, interpretation and cultural understanding.

The greater question is whether universities are connecting those foundations to the industries where communication now creates measurable economic value.

Students should encounter technical writing alongside Stylistics, digital publishing alongside Literary or Practical Criticism, content strategy alongside Discourse Analysis or Multimodal Discourse Analysis, and AI-assisted editing alongside Traditional Composition Writing courses.

Equally important are sustained partnerships with employers. Technology firms, financial institutions, publishers, development organisations, creative businesses and policy institutes should become active participants in curriculum development, internships and professional mentoring.

The challenge is not to replace academic scholarship with vocational training, but to build stronger bridges between intellectual inquiry and economic application. Universities should preserve the analytical depth of their disciplines while equipping students to apply that knowledge in industries being reshaped by digital technologies, artificial intelligence and global markets. Academic excellence and labour market relevance are not competing ambitions. They reinforce one another.

Human judgement in an AI economy
Artificial intelligence has intensified rather than diminished the importance of this conversation.

Routine writing is becoming increasingly automated. Reports, emails, summaries and translations can now be generated within seconds; automation has made another capability more valuable judgement.

Organisations increasingly distinguish themselves not through producing more words but through producing better meaning. They need professionals capable of understanding culture, interpreting ambiguity, recognising ethical implications and communicating with empathy in situations where trust matters.

Artificial intelligence can generate language, but it still depends on human judgement to ensure that communication is accurate, culturally appropriate and ethically sound. The most successful organisations will therefore invest not only in AI tools but also in professionals who can interpret context, anticipate audience reactions and shape messages that build trust. As routine writing becomes automated, the competitive advantage will increasingly belong to those who know how to combine technological efficiency with distinctly human insight.

The larger lesson

Perhaps the English degree has never been the real story. Its changing fortunes simply reveal a broader transformation taking place across higher education.

As digital technologies reshape every sector, universities can no longer assume that disciplines retain value for the same reasons they did twenty years ago. Every field must periodically reinterpret its intellectual strengths in light of emerging industries.

For employers, this means recruiting for capabilities rather than stereotypes attached to particular degrees.

For universities, it means preserving academic rigour while building stronger connections with industries where knowledge is applied. Alongside Literature and Linguistics, students of the Department of English should graduate with exposure to technical writing, digital publishing, content strategy, user experience (UX) writing, grant writing and AI-assisted communication. Short industry certifications in areas such as search engine optimisation (SEO), digital marketing, project management, business communication, technical documentation, data visualisation or user experience design can complement academic learning without diminishing its intellectual depth.

For students, it means recognising that a degree is no longer the end of education but the foundation for lifelong professional development. Those who combine strong communication skills with domain knowledge in fields such as technology, finance, healthcare, law, public policy or education, while building digital portfolios and gaining workplace experience through internships or freelance projects, will be better positioned to thrive in an increasingly competitive global economy.

The English degree has not suddenly become more valuable but the economy has finally evolved to recognise the value it always contained.

The larger challenge now is whether Nigeria’s universities, employers and policymakers can respond with equal urgency, ensuring that graduates across every discipline are equipped not for the economy that shaped yesterday’s careers, but for the one already creating tomorrow’s opportunities.

Oluwafemi Mayowa Olusola is the opinion page editor at BusinessDay. He writes provocative, data-driven essays on youth development, governance, and strategic partnerships in Nigeria, with a growing focus on climate resilience and ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) frameworks as critical lenses for national development. His work explores the intersections of education, economic policy, sustainability, and institutional reform, offering pragmatic insights into how Nigeria can drive inclusive growth and long-term transformation in a rapidly changing global landscape.