No fewer than 931 staff of Universities, Polytechnics and Colleges of Education across West Africa have graduated from an intensive 13-week training on the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI).
Speaking to newsmen at the end of the graduation ceremony in Abuja on Tuesday, Prof. Emeritus Peter Okebukola, said the 13 weeks training covered key concepts in AI with 11 practical sessions.
He said the training was organised by the National Universities Commission (NUC), National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) and the West Africa Office of the Association of African Universities (AAU) under the auspices of the NUC Strategy Advisory Committee (STRADVCOM).
According to him, the training is to support the participants’ teaching, research and community engagement.
Okebukola, who is also the Director/Facilitator-General of the Virtual Institute for Capacity Building in Higher Education (VICBHE), said the training programme was supported by the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund).
He noted that the participants could now practically use AI tools to support their teaching, research and community engagement.
According to him, they can now carry out exercises in machine learning and more importantly, use AI tools for quality assurance including accreditation.
Okebukola said that all the participants also learned ethical considerations in the use of AI.
“The quality of the project reports is amazing. The aggregation of these policies will lead us to draft AI policies for higher education institutions in the participating countries and under the aegis of the AAU West Africa Office.
“It will lead us to produce a draft for the Africa region for consideration by the Secretary General of the AAU, Prof. Olusola Oyewole.
“We closed the practical sessions with training participants in deepfake technology. They are now able to deepfake videos and pictures.
“We did this for two reasons. First, not to hide the bad sides of AI from them but to give them, through hands-on methodology, the good and the bad sides.
“The second reason is that if they know deepfake, they are better positioned to detect deepfake videos and images when they see one,” he said.
On the performance of the participants, Okebukola disclosed that a total of 156 participants earned distinction plus certificate; 457 had distinctions; 74 with credit; 131 merit and 113 with pass.
He added that 290 participants earned distinctions in the end-of-course project while 21 participants received special awards.
A former Minister of Education, Prof. Ruqayyatu Rufa’i, underlined the importance of the training for the successful implementation of the NUC Core Curriculum and Minimum Academic Standards (CCMAS).
Rufai said that the CCMAS was a legacy of Prof. Abubakar Adamu Rasheed, and was now in use in Nigerian universities.
Awards were given to distinguished participants at the end of the training.
The Malam Adamu Adamu prize for the overall best graduating participant was awarded to Prof. Omolara Oluwaniyi of the University of Ilorin.
Oluwaniyi also won the Prof. Abubakar Adamu Rasheed Prize for the best participant from the Nigerian university system as well as the Prof. Ngozi Odu Prize for the overall best female participant.
The Sonny Echono Prize for the overall best head of tertiary institutions was won by Prof. Mohammed Tanko, Vice-Chancellor, Mewar University.
Other awards went to Dr Florence Kakwera, National Council for Higher Education, Malawi; Dr Bridget Audu, National Universities Commission (Christopher J. Maiyaki Prize); Prof. Ibiyinka Fuwape, Michael and Cecilia Ibru University (Professor Ruqayyatu Ahmed Rufa’i Prize); Christie Dasaro, ECWA International College Of Technology, Jos (best serving Rector of Polytechnic).
Others are Prof. Akan Williams, former VC, Covenant University (best former vice-chancellor); Professor Basirat Oladipupo-Folarin, Lagos State University of Science and Technology (best serving deputy vice-chancellor).
The participants at the training included vice-chancellors, rectors of Polytechnics, provosts of Colleges of Education, deputy vice-chancellors, directors of Academic Planning, directors of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), among others. (NAN)
By Funmilayo Adeyemi