National President of the Association of Communication Scholars & Professionals of Nigeria
(ACSPN), Professor Rotimi Olatunji, has reaffirmed the Association’s commitment to building a
stronger communication and media ecosystem in Nigeria through innovative collaboration
among academia, industry, and government.
A statement by the General Secretary of the Association, Dr Solomon Oyeleye, said Olatunji also
urged the Federal Government to strengthen institutional frameworks supporting
university–industry partnerships, while industries should invest in academic research and
innovation.
Olatunji made this known on Wednesday, October 22, 2025, while delivering a lecture titled
“Enhancing Capacity Building in Communication and Media through
Academic–Industry–Government Partnerships in Nigeria: A Triple Helix Approach” at the 2025
International Conference of Caleb University, Imota, Lagos.
The International Conference, themed “Smart Collaboration: Industry–Academic Partnership
for Innovation, Technological and Industrial Advancement,” provided a platform for experts to
deliberate on how effective partnerships can drive innovation and knowledge-based development
in Nigeria.
Drawing from the Triple Helix Model, which integrates universities, industries, and government
agencies in a collaborative innovation system, Olatunji explained that such synergy fosters
shared expertise, curriculum co-design, research collaboration, and experiential learning. He
stressed that capacity development in communication must move beyond traditional classroom
teaching to include practical engagement, policy-driven research, and technology-enabled
storytelling.
He emphasised that through research, collaboration, and innovation, ACSPN continues to shape
a resilient and future-ready communication and media ecosystem for national transformation.
“True innovation in media,” he remarked, “is not just about novelty but about creating value and
impact through transformation.” Highlighting practical examples, he outlined how the Triple
Helix model has been applied in Nigeria’s communication sector through initiatives such as
curriculum co-design, internships, innovation hubs, and research partnerships.
He cited ongoing collaborations facilitated by ACSPN with organisations like the Centre for
Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID), Dataphyte, and, the Ford Foundation, UNICEF,
UNESCO, McArthur Foundation and government agencies that have resulted into jointly
implemented research projects, fellowships, digital media training, and innovation incubation
programmes across universities. These efforts, he said, exemplify how targeted partnerships can
transform research into practical outcomes for the media industry. He said, “Between November
2024 and now, the CJID has partnered with the ACSPN to train nearly 100 scholars and
professionals in the emerging area of mainstreaming AI into academic and professional practices
in Communication and Media in Nigeria”, adding that this project is a continuous one.
Since its establishment, ACSPN has pursued its mission of advancing excellence in
communication research and practice through a series of capacity-building initiatives, including
the Empowerment Series, Eminent Persons’ Strategy Series, Value-Added Conferences, and
Mentorship Programmes. According to him, these initiatives have yielded measurable results,
improving research productivity, professional competence, and youth engagement in
communication and media practice across the country.
A case in point, according to the President of the ACSPN, who is also a Professor of Public
Relations and Advertising at the Lagos State University, is the successful unbundling of the
erstwhile B. Sc. Mass Communication degree programme into eight (8) distinct degrees in
different areas of Communication and Media.
Going down the memory lane, Professor Olatunji recalled that the in Nigeria, the ACSPN took
the first step towards the review and unbundling of the Mass Communication curriculum, with a
grant the Association secured from UNICEF. The first of such meetings was organized by the
ACSPN at the University of Lagos, where the Nigerian Press Council, Nigerian broadcasting
Commission, Advertising Practitioners’ Council of Nigeria (APCON) as it was then called),
Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR), media and professionals organisations as well as
academia. The trend continued with the support received through the Funding grants received
from McArthur by the immediate Professor Umaru Pate, then of the Bayero University, Kano,
and eventually the immediate past-President of the ACSPN. A substantial part of the McArthur
Fundation grant was deployed by Professor Pate to midwife the Mass Communication
curriculum unbundling project, rallying critical stakeholders in fashioning eight (8) distinct
degrees in all areas of Communication and Media, and finally adopted by the National
Universities Commission (NUC).
The ACSPN boss highlighted association’s long-standing partnerships with UNESCO, the Ford
Foundation, and other development partners, which have resulted in significant outputs such as
the UNESCO-supported training brochure on preventing fake news and promoting media and
information literacy. Through such collaborations, ACSPN has emerged as a leading voice in
evidence-based media research, policy advocacy, and innovation in Nigeria and Africa.
These achievements, he said, reflect the tangible impact of collaborative investment in human
capital and institutional development. Despite these accomplishments, Olatunji acknowledged
persistent challenges such as inadequate funding, weak research infrastructure, limited access to
emerging technologies, and a mismatch between academic output and industry needs.
He emphasised that overcoming these obstacles requires continuous dialogue and collaboration
among universities, media organisations, and government bodies, anchored on trust,
transparency, and a shared vision for national development. The lecture, which aligned with the
core theme of Caleb University’s international conference, reinforced the importance of smart
collaboration as a driver of innovation and technological advancement.
In his concluding remarks, he called for robust policy reforms that recognise communication and
media as strategic pillars of national development and economic growth.
He also encouraged communication scholars and practitioners to embrace continuous learning,
leveraging emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and data-driven
journalism to stay relevant in an evolving media environment. His lecture was commended by
participants for its intellectual depth and practical relevance who described it as a timely and
visionary contribution to Nigeria’s pursuit of a knowledge-driven society.
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