Pantami Calls on Nigerian Universities to Create AI Task Forces to Drive Educational Innovation

GOMBE, Nigeria — Professor Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, former Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, has called on Nigerian universities to establish Artificial Intelligence (AI) task forces to guide the responsible adoption of the technology in learning, teaching, research, and administration.

Pantami made the call on Monday during the opening of a three-day national conference organized by Gombe State University, themed “Generative AI: Transforming Education — Opportunities, Challenges, and Ethical Considerations.”

Delivering the keynote address, Pantami traced the evolution of AI and highlighted its transformative potential in education, emphasizing that generative AI can produce new and original content — including text, images, voice, and computer code.

According to him, AI presents immense opportunities globally, with the potential to create 97 million jobs across continents and contribute over $15 trillion to the world’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 2030.

“Artificial intelligence will not replace human beings; rather, those who learn how to use it will replace those who fail to learn it,” Pantami said, stressing the importance of integrating ethical AI education into university curricula to ensure global competitiveness.

The former minister, who also serves as co-chairman of the African Union’s 4th Industrial Revolution Policy Council, cited AI-powered platforms such as Zotero, Connected Papers, Research Rabbit, and Chat Academia as valuable tools for personalized learning and advanced research.

However, Pantami acknowledged the challenges that come with AI deployment in education, including:

• Academic Integrity: The misuse of AI tools by students to generate assignments and theses, making it harder to distinguish genuine work.
• Data Privacy and Security: Concerns over how sensitive student and institutional data are stored and protected.
• Algorithmic Bias: The risk of AI systems inheriting biases from training data, which may affect fairness and academic outcomes.

To address these issues and maximize AI’s potential, Pantami urged Nigerian higher institutions to emulate the approach of top global universities such as Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) by immediately establishing AI task forces or working groups.

He outlined five key recommendations for Nigerian universities and policymakers:

1. Establish AI Task Forces comprising academics, non-teaching staff, legal experts, and AI specialists to draft institutional guidelines for AI use in teaching, research, and student projects.
2. Promote AI Startups by encouraging students to create innovative AI-driven businesses, leveraging the Nigeria Startup Act 2022 and government funding opportunities.
3. Increase Investment in AI Research at institutional, state, and federal levels to boost global competitiveness.
4. Provide Continuous Training for academic and administrative staff to integrate responsible AI practices in teaching and research.
5. Adopt AI Detection Tools to uphold academic integrity and identify plagiarism or AI-generated submissions.

Pantami reaffirmed that Nigeria must not lag behind in the global AI revolution, emphasizing that early adoption, regulation, and education-driven innovation are key to national development.