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Nnaji: Nigeria should embrace Artificial Intelligence *To join fourth Industrial Revolution
One of Africa’s foremost scientists, Bart Nnaji, has advised Nigerians to embrace artificial intelligence (AI) on an industrial scale in order to join the fourth Industrial Revolution now sweeping across the globe.
Nnaji, former Minister of Science who did his Post-Doctoral Research Fellowship in AI at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology before joining the University of Massachusetts as a professor and Director of the Robotics and Automation Laboratory at the University of Massachusetts in the United States before his 27th birthday, made the appeal at the fifth convocation ceremonies of Michael and Cecilia Ibru University at Agbara-Otor near Ughelli in Delta State where he also received an honorary doctorate in science.
“AI has come to stay”, he asserted before a large audience comprising academics and researchers from other universities, as well as business executives, philanthropists, and community leaders, including the founder of the university, Mrs. Cecelia Ibru, its vice-chancellor, Professor Ibiyinka Fuwape.
“AI holds the key to our participation in the Fourth Industrial Revolution, driven by Big Data, Internet of Things, etc. We lost the First Revolution which is the Agricultural Revolution, the Second which is the Industrial Revolution, and the Third which is the Digital Revolution.”
Nnaji, recognised as one of the three top academic engineers in the world in industrial engineering before he returned to Nigeria in 2004, said that AI “has become ubiquitous especially with Generative AI which enables machines, that is digital systems, to do things faster, cheaper and better through repetitive tasks and, in the process, achieve greater autonomy.
“This means that they perform tasks without human control or human input, and this process keeps on improving rapidly,” he said, adding that unlike previous revolutions in history, Nigeria does not require massive resource infusion before leapfrogging into the 4th Industrial Revolution.
“The computer and the Internet have made things much cheaper, faster, and shorter, as a person can stay in the comforts of his or her home and still be in touch with cutting-edge technology, including AI,” he declared.
Nnaji, a winner of the Nigerian National Order of Merit, the nation’s highest honour for intellectual achievement, said AI is helping humanity in every area of life, ranging from healthcare to mass communication to business management to education to legal advice to creativity, crediting much of the new progress to ChatGPT4 launched last November by Open AI.
“It can write a novel for you and in your name within a few minutes, just as it can write an office memo or an advert jingle or a legal opinion on a complex matter or solve a mathematical or scientific question. All you need do is write the keywords, or a few words, on what you want and prompt the words, and in a jiffy, everything is all yours,” the AI and robotics expert stated.
While expressing delight that an increasing number of Nigerians are embracing AI, the erstwhile power minister advised the Nigerian government to immediately take concrete steps to make the country a significant AI participant, calling the United States, the United Kingdom, China, South Korea, the European Union, and India the frontline AI developers.
The Ministry of Communication and Creativity should be treated as a frontline development ministry, he argued, adding that the Nigerian Communication Commission and the National Office for the Acquisition of Technology should receive priority status.
He counselled the Federal Government to drastically reduce tariffs on certain information technology equipment or even abolish them, while calling for intensive training of IT specialists in both academic and professional institutions in Nigeria and abroad.
He added: “Let us borrow a leaf from India which prioritised Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) and has consequently excelled in medical tourism, manufacturing, food security, and moon and sun exploration”.
Nnaji, who however, pointed out some of the dangers associated with AI, including job losses and deep fakes, added for instance that ChatGPT has replaced the customer teams in some companies because it is more efficient and faster in attending to customer needs than humans.
He named more dangerous consequences of AI use, saying: “You can use it to make extremely dangerous bombs, for instance”, he said, identifying plagiarism, misinformation, disinformation, invasion of privacy, pornography, blackmail, extortion, and even a possible nuclear catastrophe as well as a possible pandemic as some of the risks.
Nnaji, therefore, called on every government in the world to join hands with AI researchers and developers to create a global body to promote positive and safe AI use “just as the establishment of the International Atomic Energy Agency in 1957 in Vienna, Austria, has resulted in a safer world.”
No government in the world should be left behind in the project to coordinate and regulate AI because, according to him, a rogue AI developer can move to an ungoverned space and cause a human tragedy from there.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has appealed the judgement of the federal high court in Abuja nullifying the timelines issued for the conduct of party primaries and the nomination of candidates.
Alex Izinyon SAN, leading a team of lawyers of the commission in a notice of appeal dated May 25, raised nine grounds it urged the appellate court to consider and vacate the judgment the Federal High Court in Abuja delivered on May 20.
Apart from raising the issue of jurisdiction, which it said the lower court did not determine, INEC also maintained that the legal action the Youth Party (YP) initiated against it was not only hypothetical but academic.
Arguing that failure of the trial court to make pronouncements on the issues, resulted in the denial of fair hearing to the Appellant, the commission also stressed the lower court misinterpreted the provisions of the electoral act.
It said: “The high court erred in law when it held that: ‘It is clear from the wordings of Sections 29(1), 82 and 84 of the Electoral Act, 2026, the following can be understood. Section 29(1) of the Electoral Act, 2026 mandates Political Parties to submit the names of candidates in prescribed forms of the candidates who emerged from its valid primaries which such a political party intends to sponsor at the elections, not later than 120 days before the date of the General Election.
“What is required of Political Parties to do under the Electoral Act, 2026 is to notify the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) 21 days before the holding of its primaries, congresses or conventions, days before the holding of its primaries, congresses or conventions, or any conference or meeting convened for the election of its executive committees, other governing bodies for nominating candidates.
“The Defendant is not mandated to impose a timeframe for political parties to conduct their primaries provided that it will be done and submitted not later than the 120 days provided by the Electoral Act, 2026. See Section 82(1) of the Electoral Act, 2026.”
It was another day of misery in Kwara State, when daredevil terrorists reportedly stormed Yashikira Community in Baruten Local Government Area of Kwara State, and as has been the case in many of the attacks, abducting scores of residents including women and children.
But, apparently to register their authority, the gunmen, who were said to have operated for hours without challenge from the security operatives, were said to have torched the palace of the Emir.
The attackers, which reportedly occurred late Sunday night were said to have announced their presence through heavy firing and after storming the palace of the monarch during the period, set it on fire before whisking away their victims, but a similar attempt at the police station in the community, was repelled.
While some of the residents, narrated how the spent hours without resistance, leaving behind destruction and fear in the border community, another account said the villagers were caught unawares as the gunmen invaded the town under the cover of darkness.
However operatives made up of the police and military personnel, were said to have launched a manhunt immediately for the immediate rescue of the victims, including throwing a cordon in the area as part of the mission.
“The suspect offered ₦500 million to the SPU commander in an attempt to make the team stand down and allow him to contact his associates to move the consignment elsewhere. The offer was rejected immediately and properly documented for further investigation.”
These were the exact words of Olohundare Jimoh Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG), with which he detailed how operatives of the Zone 2 Command of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) scoffed at a N500million bribe to turn their eyes off the importation of a huge consignment of drugs imported into the country.
This was part of the details of a major breakthrough by the operatives after bursting a major drug trafficking syndicate in Lagos, which led to the seizure of suspected illicit drugs estimated at ₦7.8 billion and arresting several suspects, including the alleged kingpin.
In the operation, reportedly carried out by officers of the Special Protection Unit (SPU) in collaboration with divisional police detectives, the operatives, were said to have stormed a house in Mende, Maryland area of Lagos, following months of surveillance and intelligence gathering coordinated by the Zone 2 Headquarters.
The recovered drugs consisted of hundreds of bags of suspected Canadian Loud, allegedly stored in the residence of the prime suspect, Jimoh, said disclosing that the suspect was apprehended on May 19 after weeks of strategic monitoring by operatives.
Offering further details, he said the operation was executed with technical support and guidance from the Inspector-General of Police, IGP Olatunji Disu, alongside coordinated efforts between the SPU and divisional police teams.
Jimoh revealed that during the operation, the suspect allegedly attempted to bribe the SPU commander with ₦500 million to compromise the mission and allow the movement of the drug consignment.
The AIG described the development as a reflection of the renewed professionalism and operational discipline being entrenched in the Force under the current policing strategy.
He noted that the success of the operation underscored the importance of deploying specialized police units alongside conventional divisional teams in tackling organized crime.
According to him, the operation demonstrated the effectiveness of rapid containment strategies, intelligence-led policing, and professional conduct among the operatives involved in the raid.
“Rapid containment was achieved as the Special Protection Unit worked with divisional teams to secure the perimeter and prevent escape or interference with evidence.
“The operation was intelligence-driven, following months of surveillance and technical monitoring before the raid was carried out.
“The immediate rejection and documentation of the bribe attempt also reflect the standard expected from redeployed personnel at the divisional level,” Jimoh added.
Reacting to the development, the Inspector-General of Police, IGP Olatunji Disu, commended the operatives for their professionalism, saying the success of the operation validated the ongoing redeployment of personnel to divisions and units across Lagos and Ogun states.
The IGP noted: “Policing must be close to the people, and our specialized units must work side by side with divisional teams on the ground.
“The professionalism shown by the SPU commander in rejecting a ₦500 million bribe and following due procedure is the standard we expect. It shows that when you put your best foot forward at the grassroots, you get results and restore public trust.”
Disu further assured that the Force leadership would continue to reward integrity while holding officers accountable to the highest ethical standards.
Police authorities said exhibits recovered during the operation have been properly documented and will be tendered in court. The suspects are currently in custody while investigations continue to track down other members of the drug trafficking network.
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