The Provost, College of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Kwara State University (KWASU), Malete, Professor Innocent Okoye, has stated that Mass Communication as a discipline should not be an all-comers' affair. Graduates of Mass Communication, he submitted, must have an edge over amateurs.

Okoye, a Professor of Journalism and Mass Communication, made this submission while presenting a paper entitled, "Nature, Challenges and the Way Forward for Mass Communication in Nigeria," at a Seminar organised by the Mass Communication Students Association (MACOSA), National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), Ilorin Study Centre. The event was held on Friday, November 28, 2014, at the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Press Centre, Ilorin.

While lamenting the increasing inability of the mass communication school system to meet societal demands, Professor Okoye identified poor funding, lack of quality control and poor attitude of mass communication students as some of the problems facing the discipline.

He stressed the need to go back to the basics by ensuring adequate quality control for the entrants into the discipline, adding that "those without a flair for writing should go to other fields." He explained that a mass communicator requires proficiency in speaking and writing as well as computer literacy.

Professor Okoye who is also the Head, Mass Communication Department of Kwara State University, called on the school authorities, the public and the private sector to come to the assistance of mass communication training institutions to salvage the situation. He also advised institutions yet to give Mass Communication Department its rightful place to emulate KWASU where the department is accommodated in the College of Information and Communication Technology (ICT).

According to him, "KWASU has invested so much in developing state-of-the-art physical structures, procurement of equipment for the discipline and also recruited highly qualified faculty members. At the last accreditation exercise conducted by the National Universities Commission (NUC), Mass Communication scored 94.5%, which was the highest in the entire university."