Nigeria will soon have an institute dedicated to studying robotics and artificial intelligence, thanks to a team of scientists and engineers led by Professor Bart Nnaji, founder and chairman of the Geometric Power Group.
Nnaji, a former Minister of Science and Technology who later served as the Minister of Power, disclosed the establishment of the institute today at a lecture to mark the 100th anniversary of Bigard Memorial Seminary, Enugu, owned by the Catholic Church in Anambra and Enugu states.
Nnaji, who did his postdoctoral fellowship at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Artificial Intelligence before becoming a Distinguished Professor of Engineering and Director of the Robotics and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and then moved to the University of Pittsburgh to lead a consortium of universities on a research programme funded by the United States National Science Foundation, told the audience that the Federal Government has successfully scrutinised the institute through the office of the Attorney General and Minister of Justice and the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC).
He revealed that the institute’s application was made in 2017, and it took the government four years to establish that “it is in the national interest to have such an advanced facility.”
He described the objectives of the institute as to engage in the learning and study of computer sciences that teach the technology of intelligent machines and robots and issue certificates to students; to train and issue certification in the design hardware that does some autonomous tasks repeatedly; and to carry out research studies in the development and analysis of algorithms that learn and perform intelligent behaviour with minimal human intervention”.
Dike Ejike, a mechanical engineer, power and business consultant in Abuja who attended the Bigard Seminary centenary, explained that “it is remarkable that far-reaching steps were taken to establish the institute in Nigeria long before generative artificial intelligence took the world by storm since November 30 2022 when Sam Altman and his group at OpenA1 launched ChatGTP in the United States which has radically changed the way the world learns, conducts research and does business”.
Though Nnaji did not state when the institute would commence operations, the location or structure, Dike told the audience that “all Nigerians and the government should support this farsighted institute to help galvanize Nigerians into the AI race that has begun to define development in the 21st century”.
Disclosing that the Bells University of Technology at Otta in Ogun State where he serves as the governing council chairman has just approved the establishment of an artificial intelligence centre, Nnaji called on the Nigerian government to prioritize Science Technology Mathematics and Engineering (STEM) subjects for Nigeria to leapfrog in developmental terms, citing the example of Vietnam which now produces 90,000 STEM talents annually, still, the pool is grossly inadequate for leading technology companies like Invidia and Apple which are competing for greater operations in the country.
“Nvidia”, recalled the famous scientist, “was established in 1993 by a team led by 30-year-old Jansen Huan, originally from Taiwan, and it made a stupendous $15.3 billion profit last quarter alone whereas Nigeria, a country of over 200m people, makes not more than $25 billion from crude oil sales annually”.
He counselled that world-class economics and management programmes be introduced in the country to enhance Nigeria’s competitiveness, adding that even leading scientific institutions like NASA need excellent managers to remain well-run and business leaders need a basic knowledge of global economics to do well.
Nnaji, winner of the Nigerian National Order of Merit (NNOM), the nation’s highest honour for academic and artistic achievement, also called on the authorities of Bigard Memorial Seminary to consider upgrading the 100-year-old institution’s academic status beyond preparing its students for Bachelor’s degrees in philosophy and theology.
“Eight years of full-time and intensive studies should earn the candidates at least the licentiate or master’s degree”, he observed, asking them to borrow a leaf from the International School of Theology at Atakwu in Enugu South Local Government Area where the candidates for the Catholic priesthood graduate with a master’s degree from Duquesne University in Philadelphia, United States, after four years of studies in philosophy followed by a four-year theological programme.
He advised the institution’s leaders to affiliate the proposed postgraduate studies at Bigard Seminary with a Nigerian or foreign university, just like the Catholic Institute of West Africa (CIWA) in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, whose postgraduate programmes are affiliated with the University of Calabar in Cross River State.
“Alternatively, Bigard can apply to the National Universities Commission (NUC) to become a full-fledged university, after 100 years of existence”, Nnaji remarked to wide applause from the audience that included Reverend Father Albert Ikpenwa, a theology professor and rector of the seminary.
Previous speakers at the centenary included Francis Cardinal Arinze, former Prefect for the Congregation of Divine Worship and Discipline of Sacrament at the Vatican, who is also an alumnus of the seminary.