Top 20 Useless Courses to Study in Nigeria – Look, I need to be straight with you from the jump. I’ve seen too many of my coursemates graduate with good grades, only to be selling recharge cards in front of their parents’ house two years later.
I’ve watched brilliant students pick courses because “it sounds prestigious” or “my uncle said it’s good,” only to realize they’ve basically bought themselves a four-year vacation with no job at the end.
Before you come for me in the comments, let me clarify something: I’m not saying these courses are academically useless or that the knowledge is worthless.
What I’m saying is that in the current Nigerian job market—the real one, not the one your secondary school career counselor told you about—some courses are practically guaranteeing you a frustrating journey after graduation.
I’m writing this because someone needs to tell the truth. Your parents won’t. Your lecturers definitely won’t (they’re employed, after all). So here’s the list, straight from someone who has watched this play out over and over again.
Top 20 Useless Courses to Study in Nigeria
1. Philosophy
This one pains me because Philosophy students are usually the smartest people in any argument. They can deconstruct anything, think critically, and see angles nobody else sees. But here’s the problem: Nigeria doesn’t have a “thinking industry.”
After graduation, what’s next? Lecturing is overcrowded and underpaid. The few who make it work usually combine it with Law or go into content creation, but that’s reinventing yourself from scratch. Your degree basically becomes an expensive decoration.
2. Religious Studies/Christian Religious Knowledge/Islamic Studies
Unless you’re planning to be a pastor, imam, or lecturer, this course is a hard sell in the job market. Even churches and mosques now prefer people with business management or accounting backgrounds to run their administrative affairs.
I know someone with a First Class in Religious Studies who now works as a customer service rep in a bank. The irony? His coursemate who studied Banking and Finance got the same job with a Third Class. Make it make sense.
3. Library and Information Science
Let’s be brutally honest: when was the last time you visited a library? Exactly. Nigeria is not investing in libraries. Most school libraries are glorified storage rooms, and public libraries are nearly extinct.
The few library jobs available pay peanuts, and they’re usually filled through “long leg” connections. Most graduates end up in completely unrelated fields or doing admin work that any course could have prepared them for.
4. Theatre Arts/Performing Arts
Before Nollywood fans attack me, hear me out. Yes, we have a booming entertainment industry. But how many Theatre Arts graduates are actually working in Nollywood? Most successful actors either didn’t study it or dropped out.
The industry runs on talent, connections, and luck—not your degree certificate. Meanwhile, you’ve spent four years studying Shakespearean drama when you could have been building actual connections in the industry or studying something with a fallback plan.
5. Music
Same energy as Theatre Arts. Wizkid didn’t finish his Music degree at LASU. Burna Boy studied Media Technology abroad but built his career independently. Davido finished his degree, but admitted he was already successful before graduation.
The music industry respects hustle and talent, not transcripts. A Music degree in Nigeria often means outdated equipment, theory-heavy curriculum, and lecturers who haven’t produced a hit since 1987.
6. Fine and Applied Arts
Nigeria’s art market is growing, yes, but it’s still largely informal and connection-based. Most successful visual artists are self-taught or learned through apprenticeship, not through university.
What happens after graduation? You’ll likely set up a printing press, do freelance graphics (competing with people who learned Photoshop on YouTube), or end up teaching Art in secondary schools for ₦30,000 monthly.
7. History and International Studies
This course sounds important and worldly. Diplomacy! International relations! The UN! Reality check: Nigeria’s foreign service hires maybe 50 people every few years through ridiculously competitive exams. And your History degree doesn’t give you an edge.
Most graduates end up as teachers or rewrite themselves completely to enter corporate Nigeria. Your knowledge about the Berlin Conference won’t help you in that banking hall interview.
8. Anthropology
Who’s hiring anthropologists in Nigeria? Seriously, I’m asking. Maybe some NGOs occasionally need someone for field research, but those positions are rare and temporary.
This is one of those courses that makes sense abroad, where there’s infrastructure for research, museums, cultural institutions, and corporate ethnography. In Nigeria? You’re basically setting yourself up to explain your course for the rest of your life.
9. Linguistics
Unless you’re combining it with another language or planning to go into academia, Linguistics is a tough sell. Yes, language is fascinating. Yes, understanding phonetics and morphology is intellectually stimulating. But Nigerian employers are not checking for that.
You’ll likely end up teaching English in secondary school, working in media (which anyone can enter), or doing customer service. All jobs that didn’t require four years of studying syntax trees.
10. Home Economics/Home Science
This course has an identity crisis. It’s stuck between being catering, nutrition, fashion design, and family studies, and ends up being a master of none.
If you want to be a caterer, an apprenticeship is faster and more practical. If you want nutrition, study Nutrition properly. Fashion design? Go to a fashion school. The general nature of Home Economics means you graduate without specialized expertise in anything marketable.
11. Adult Education
Even the name sounds outdated. This course was designed for a different era, when Nigeria was investing heavily in adult literacy programs. That era is long gone.
Current graduates struggle to find relevant employment. The few adult education centers that exist are poorly funded, and NGO positions are competitive and temporary. Most end up in general education roles that any Education graduate can fill.
12. Guidance and Counseling
Nigeria doesn’t take mental health or counseling seriously—at least not enough to employ counselors widely. Most schools either don’t have counselors or hire anyone willing to take the title with no extra pay.
Private practice is possible but extremely difficult without postgraduate training and connections. Meanwhile, you’ve spent four years on a course with limited immediate application in the Nigerian context.
13. Physical and Health Education
Unless you’re passionate about teaching P.E. in secondary schools (one of the least respected teaching positions, sadly), this course offers limited opportunities.
Sports administration in Nigeria is heavily politicized and connection-based. Fitness industry? Growing, but most successful trainers built their reputation through personal brand, not their degree. You could have done a six-month certification course instead of four years.
14. Archeology
Nigeria barely maintains its museums, let alone funding archaeological research. The few positions available are in universities or the National Commission for Museums and Monuments—both extremely competitive and poorly funded.
This is a passion course that makes sense only if you’re independently wealthy or planning to migrate abroad, where there’s actual infrastructure for archaeological work.
15. Forestry
Deforestation is a massive problem in Nigeria, but is the government hiring foresters to solve it? Not really. The forestry sector is neglected, and most graduates end up doing environmental compliance paperwork for companies or working in unrelated fields.
Unless you’re planning to go into the timber business (which doesn’t need a degree) or environmental consultancy (which needs connections and postgraduate qualifications), Forestry is a risky choice.
16. Agricultural Extension
Different from general Agriculture, Agricultural Extension focuses on teaching farmers improved techniques. Noble goal, terrible job market.
Government extension programs are poorly funded and staffed through political connections. NGO work is temporary. Most graduates either become general agriculturists, go into agribusiness (which doesn’t need the degree), or leave the field entirely.
17. Estate Management
Wait, isn’t real estate booming in Nigeria? Yes, but here’s the thing: most successful real estate people either studied Surveying, Law, Architecture, or didn’t study it at all. They learned through apprenticeship and hustle.
Estate Management graduates often find themselves competing with people from more technical fields or with better street credentials. The professional body (NIESV) exists, but the course itself doesn’t provide the competitive advantage you’d expect.
18. Fisheries and Aquaculture
Nigeria’s aquaculture industry is growing, mostly through individual fish farmers who learned through practice, not through university degrees.
Government fishery departments are small and rarely hire. Private fish farms prefer experienced hands over degree holders. You could learn practical fish farming in six months rather than spending four years studying fish biology you’ll never use.
19. Recreation and Tourism
Nigeria’s tourism industry is severely underdeveloped. Political instability, insecurity, and poor infrastructure have kept tourism from growing meaningfully.
Most tourism boards are political appointments, not merit-based hirings. Hotels and hospitality businesses prefer Hospitality Management graduates. Tour companies are small and rarely hire formally. Where’s the market for this degree?
20. Gender Studies/Women’s Studies
This is another course that makes more sense in contexts with established gender equity infrastructure—think NGOs, research institutes, corporate diversity departments, and policy organizations.
In Nigeria, while NGOs are working on gender issues, positions are extremely competitive and temporary. Most organizations prefer people with Law, Social Work, or Development Studies backgrounds who can also do gender work.
The Uncomfortable Truth Nobody Tells You
Here’s what I’ve learned from watching batch after batch of graduates: the Nigerian job market is brutal and unforgiving. It doesn’t care about your passion, your First Class, or how intellectually rigorous your course was.
It cares about:
- Can you immediately add value to a business?
- Do you have technical skills that are in demand?
- Can you generate income or save costs?
Courses like Engineering, Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Accounting, Computer Science, Law—they survive because they answer “yes” to these questions. The courses on this list? They mostly answer “maybe, after I completely retrain myself.”
But What If You’ve Already Chosen One of These Courses?
Don’t panic. I’m not saying your life is over. But you need to be strategic:
Start building parallel skills NOW. Learn graphic design, digital marketing, coding, video editing, content creation—whatever interests you and has market value. Don’t wait until graduation.
Network aggressively. In Nigeria, “who you know” isn’t just a cliché; it’s survival. Your coursemates, lecturers, and family connections might be your way into opportunities.
Consider strategic postgraduate degrees. An MBA, MSc in Data Science, or a professional certification can completely redirect your career trajectory.
Embrace entrepreneurship early. Some of these courses actually prepare you well for entrepreneurship if you think creatively. Start small while in school.
Don’t let your degree define you. Your course is what you studied, not who you are. Many successful Nigerians work in fields completely different from their degrees.
The Real Question You Should Be Asking
Instead of “Is this course useless?” ask yourself:
- What job market exists for this course in Nigeria right now?
- Can I survive financially with this degree alone?
- What’s my backup plan if the ideal job doesn’t materialize?
- Am I choosing this out of genuine passion or because it sounds good?
If you’re a secondary school student reading this, I’m not trying to kill your dreams. I’m trying to save you from the painful awakening many graduates face. Choose wisely. If you must study any of these courses, go in with your eyes wide open and a solid plan B.
And if you’re already studying one? No regrets. Just recalibrate. Nigeria rewards the adaptive, not the idealistic.
The degree is just paper. What you do with your time in school, the skills you build, and the connections you make—that’s what determines your success.
Stay sharp out there.
SEE POST ALSO >> Top 50 Best Art Courses in Nigeria (2026 Updated List)
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