Explaining the reasons no Nigerian university is at the forefront of artificial intelligence research, the former Director of the Electronic Development Institute in Awka said the practice of imposing a uniform curriculum on all universities by the Nigeria University Commission (NUC) is stifling the ability of individual institutions to carve a niche for themselves by introducing innovative courses tailored to their own strength.
“The university system in Nigeria runs a rigid curriculum,” the professor said. “For instance, the core curriculum minimum academic standards (CCMAS) curriculum was introduced by the NUC, which captured only the introductory concepts of AI because it was put in place just before the explosion of artificial intelligence. Because of the rigid nature of the curriculum, the universities don’t have the freedom to change it.”
The immediate past Dean of the School of Electrical Systems Engineering and Technology, therefore, called on the NUC to immediately amend the CCMAS to bring it up to standard with the present state of knowledge; otherwise, “we will be teaching today what has expired yesterday.”
Additionally, Professor Ndinechi discussed the current state of the Nigerian public university system. He said the universities lack adequate facilities to cater to the population of students, describing the institutions as akin to a mass production line for spurning out ill-equipped graduates. “Instead of equipping the universities to deliver quality training, the government has chosen to establish universities in every corner of the country.”
He further advocated for the development of AI technologies tailored to solve African problems. He said that the continent may be left behind if African governments fail to support their citizens in developing AI solutions to solve problems on the continent.
He also made clarifications regarding the circumstances of Dr. Isa Ali Pantami’s appointment as a Professor of Cybersecurity at the university in 2021. He explained that those accusing the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Nnenna Oti, of making the appointment are doing so out of ignorance. “The process of appointing Dr. Isa Pantami as a professor in FUTO had already begun before Prof. Nnenna Oti became the Vice Chancellor of the institution,” Prof. Ndinechi explained. He revealed that he was a member of the University Governing Council when Prof. Oti was appointed. “Her predecessor had already done all the necessary processing. She only presented the report to the Council to approve, which we did,” he stated while explaining the role of Prof. Oti in Dr. Pantami’s appointment.
The former Dean also defended the university’s decision to appoint the former Minister of Communication and Digital Economy as a professor of cybersecurity in the institution. He said there was nothing wrong with appointing a serving minister as a professor at the university. He, however, could not provide information on whether Dr. Pantami has resumed his work at the university after the expiration of his ministerial term, stating that he does not have access to the files to comment on that.
