Generative artificial intelligence (AI) is trained on enormous bodies of text, video, and images to identify patterns. It then creates new texts, videos, and images on the basis of this pattern identification. Thanks to machine learning, it improves its ability to do so every time it is used. As AI becomes embedded in academic life, a troubling reality has emerged: students are extremely vulnerable to its use.

They don’t know enough about what AI is to be alert to its shortcomings. And they don’t know enough about their subject content to make judgments on this anyway. Most importantly, they don’t know what they don’t know. As two academics involved in higher education teaching, we argue that there are four key dangers facing students in today’s world of AI.

Given our experiences as academics who have developed curricula for students and who research generative AI, we think there are three things universities can do. They should teach critical AI literacy, emphasise why developing knowledge is important, and teach students why being an expert matters if they’re going to engage meaningfully with AI.

Literacy – being able to read, write and understand written or spoken language – is a cornerstone of educational achievement. Yet, for millions of children worldwide, acquiring basic literacy skills is a significant challenge.

This is a result of systemic inequalities, poverty, conflict, displacement and gender disparities. A Unicef report on global literacy levels in 2023 found that 89% of 10-year-olds in sub-Saharan Africa were unable to read or comprehend a basic story.

In Kenya, the gap in foundational literacy is stark. A nationwide evaluation of over 44,000 children across 1,973 primary schools in 2023 found that three in 10 grade 6 learners aged 11 struggled to read grade 3-level (age 8) texts.

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The Federal Government has announced the creation of a high-level committee to streamline and standardise fee payment processes across the country’s tertiary institutions. This move aims to enhance financial operations between Nigerian universities and the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND).

Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, made the announcement in Abuja yesterday after a closed-door meeting with Vice-Chancellors of universities and NELFUND management. Addressing the reporters, Alausa said that while universities had been receiving funds promptly, there was a pressing need to improve the timelines and efficiency of disbursement and notification processes.

He clarified that there was no fraud in NELFUND, contrary to earlier speculations by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC). “The current processes are working, but we are working to better the system we have now.

The Nigerian university system has declined over the years in terms of educational excellence. A prime factor for its continued sorry situation is the state-sanctioned quota system in which nepotism trumps merit. IYABO LAWAL writes that it’s time for the government to rejig the policy for the sake of posterity and development.

Oghenerukewve Akor, a young brilliant Nigerian, who was denied admission to read Medicine at the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ife, had a dream like every academically inclined Nigerian youth to go to a university.

Besides, every parent dreams that their children graduate from a good university to ensure that they have a better life than they did. That is a progressive situation except that the snag is everyone is facing what seems a dead end: the university quota system, where merit is an afterthought, not the main focus.

The National Universities Commission has granted Benue State a provisional licence to establish a new state university. The Executive Secretary of NUC, Prof. Abdullahi Ribadu, presented the licence to the State’s Deputy Governor, Samuel Ode, who represented Governor Hyacinth Alia at the occasion on Wednesday.

Ribadu said the institution, Benue State University of Agriculture, Science and Technology, located at Ihugh in Vandeikaya Local Government Area, Benue State, has become the second Benue state-owned university.
He said that the new addition brought the number of state-owned universities in the country to 68 and the total universities in Nigeria to 299.

“We expect that it will adhere strictly to the guidelines set forth for quality assurance, character development, and overall management of academic programmes. “I have no doubt that this university will play a vital role in shaping the future of education, especially agriculture, and the development of this country.

Directors of Information and Communication Technology from tertiary institutions across Nigeria have identified poor infrastructure, funding constraints, and resistance to change as major impediments to the digital transformation of the country’s higher education system.

This was disclosed at the 2025 Annual Conference of the Committee of Directors of ICT of Nigerian Tertiary Institutions, which was held on Monday in Abuja with the theme, “Accelerating Digital Transformation in Nigerian Tertiary Education through Strategic ICT Leadership.”

Speaking at the event, Chairman of COMDICT-NTI, Daniel Yakmut, said that although many institutions had adopted ICT tools for virtual classrooms, digital libraries, and administrative systems, the journey toward full digital integration remained hindered by deep-rooted challenges.

ExxonMobil Foundation, in partnership with Junior Achievement Africa, is supporting over 1,500 secondary school students across Africa through its 2025 Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Africa programme.

The initiative, launched in Abuja, Nigeria, seeks to cultivate the next generation of innovators by providing skills and resources to pursue careers in STEM fields. The programme, spanning Nigeria, Angola, Namibia, and Mozambique, includes weekly quizzes, regional competitions, and innovation camps designed to enhance critical thinking and collaboration.

In his address at the event, made available to our correspondent, the Executive Director of Junior Achievement Nigeria, Ugonna Achebe, said the effort targets a fresh cohort of students to maximise reach. “We aim to equip young people with the tools to become digitally savvy leaders,” Achebe said at the launch, which featured a quiz contest among five schools.

The Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) has threatened to sanction beneficiary tertiary institutions that fail to meet its performance benchmarks or mismanage allocated funds. The agency said it would de-list such tertiary institutions from its support programmes.

Its Executive Secretary, Sonny Echono, gave the warning at a one-day strategic engagement with heads of institutions, bursars, and heads of procurement of the agency’s beneficiary institutions yesterday in Abuja. Echono said the policy was not designed to punish but to safeguard the credibility and impact of the fund’s interventions.

He said: “Let me be clear. Institutions that consistently fail to access, utilise or retire funds appropriately or that fall short of enrollment and academic performance thresholds risk being. delisted as TETFund beneficiary institutions.”

The Senior Staff Union in Colleges of Education, Nigeria (SSUCOEN) has decried how the government pays less attention to teacher education, which, according to it, is the bedrock of every country’s development. The union said no nation could progress without education, lamenting that less attention was being paid to teacher education across the country.

Speaking in Oyo State at the 40th National Delegate Conference of SSUCOEN with the theme: ‘Trade Union Practice in the Contemporary Nigerian Tertiary Education Sector: Clogs, Reflections and Panacea for Robust Industrial Climate’, the union President, Com. Danladi Msheliza, said the foundation of education, which was from primary and junior secondary school levels, was being eroded.

He said colleges of education were the only institutions mandated to train teachers, who would teach at the primary and junior secondary school levels. Msheliza said attention was not being given to the sub-sector of the country, urging government to fund colleges of education more and bring in more facilities.

Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Nyesom Wike, has announced a bold move to withhold 10 percent of the statutory allocations to FCT Area Councils in response to their failure to pay the new minimum wage to primary school teachers, which has triggered an ongoing strike.

In a statement issued by Assistant Director of Press, Rabi Umar, the minister while addressing the crisis, expressed deep disappointment, describing the strike as “very unfortunate” and condemning the Area Council Chairmen for lacking conscience.

He revealed that despite releasing over N4 billion to the councils to pay the teachers, the funds have not been used for this purpose. “These teachers have families to care for. Why don’t you have conscience? If I wield the big stick now, they will begin to say this and that,” he said, underscoring the gravity of the situation.

Kano State Governor, Abba Kabir Yusuf, has launched a comprehensive initiative to strengthen education and security across public schools in the state. As part of the reforms, he ordered the immediate recruitment of 17,600 security guards, 400 for each of the 44 local government areas to safeguard students, teachers, and school infrastructure.

“This decision is part of our commitment to protecting our children and teachers from emerging threats. We cannot allow insecurity to disrupt the education of our future leaders,” Governor Yusuf said on Monday in Kano during the official flag-off of instructional material distribution across schools.

Also, the governor unveiled a World Bank-supported ICT initiative under the AGILE project, which includes the solarisation of 200 schools and the provision of 250 computers per school to boost digital literacy. In a further effort to boost morale and improve staff welfare, Governor Yusuf approved a N200 million vehicle loan scheme for primary and secondary school teachers to ease transportation challenges and enhance productivity.