Regina Otokpa 
The National Universities Commission (NUC) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with a global leader in Artificial Intelligence (AI) innovation, Daimlas Corporation, Princeton, New Jersey, USA, to establish a comprehensive AI ecosystem across Nigerian universities.
The collaboration aims to empower academic institutions with cutting-edge AI resources, research opportunities, and a platform for AI-driven education.
The Executive Secretary of NUC, Prof. Abdullahi Ribadu who spoke at the official signing of the MoU in Abuja for the NUC AI Centre of Excellence, expressed the Commission’s readiness to embrace the project towards its success.
He said: “Based on the explanation and what they say, the next four years at least. It’s enough time for us to see and review and see that we are prepared. You know, it’s very good.
“Because at times, it’s like a gauge, so to say. And when you start it, then you see that you cannot do without it. And you are prepared to pay the one-off cost.
“So I think it’s a very good thing. And we are happy that we are established already in many institutions that are well-known around the world. So I must say that we are very happy that we willingly signed this thing,” the executive secretary said.
CEO of Daimlas Corporation, Princeton, New Jersey, USA, Joseph Wehbe who noted that AI was affecting every part of society including the academia, said they started the journey five years ago.
According to him, universities in the US, as well as the federal states and local governments, community colleges, and everyone else, were trying to figure out their AI strategy, and our solution is a platform that brings the ecosystem together.
“In a fully functioning AI ecosystem, you have AI research centres, you have AI labs, AI for entrepreneurs, AI for kids, AI for platform companies, for small businesses. And when you bring all these ecosystems together, you have great pathways for everyone who wants to participate in the AI economy. The taxonomy of an AI ecosystem is different than an ICT ecosystem.
“Why? Because in AI, academia is at the heart of the research that goes into the advancements in AI. And on our platform that we built for NUC, it is to create pathways for every university in Nigeria that wants to participate in AI to join the platform. They create profiles at the management level, leadership, and also at the students and alumni of these universities.
“Anyone that has an AI goal in mind creates a profile, and the platform guides them to achieve their goal. Every stakeholder has a different goal in AI. Someone might be trying to set up an AI bachelor’s degree programme.
“Somebody might be setting up an AI lab. Someone might be setting up an AI master’s programme or getting an internship in AI. The platform facilitates these opportunities for the different stakeholders,” he said.
According to him, the organization has five ecosystems that live globally, in New Jersey, Massachusetts, Washington D.C., California, and Saudi Arabia. In Nigeria, he said it has two that are with the Federal Ministry of Innovation.
“So universities in Nigeria that want to connect to the Massachusetts Corridor, to the New Jersey Corridor, to the California AI Corridor, can all access the platform that way. We look forward to engaging with the universities and guiding them to start their AI journey because it’s very difficult.
“Some universities, out of fear, would exclude AI from their offerings. But the reality is that the job market is changing so fast, and the entry-level jobs that the graduates are expected to get are all being replaced by AI. So whether it’s somebody studying marketing or law, it’s a lot cheaper to get the AI to do those entry-level jobs than to hire new graduates.
“So these talents that are coming out of university also need to be prepared for an AI future. And the jobs of the future haven’t been created because a lot of those entry-level jobs are going to be eliminated. AI doesn’t sleep and it doesn’t complain about your new graduate,” he added.
