ChatGPT, the generative artificial intelligence chatbot developed by OpenAI, on Tuesday in Lagos, Nigeria, announced the University of Lagos (UNILAG) as the first institution in the African continent to host its Open AI Academy.

Emmanuel Lubanzadio, the Africa Lead at OpenAI and keynote speaker announced this at the ongoing 5th International Week organised by the University of Lagos themed: “Equitable Partnerships and the Future of AI in Africa”.

Lubanzadio disclosed that the significance of OpenAI Chat GPT used by over 500 million users weekly is primarily for learning affecting various fields such as academia, healthcare, and agriculture. He said the coming of the OpenAI Academy at the university will enhance capacity building initiatives as it will offer free courses to help various sectors, including startups and governments in the deployment of AI effectively.

Abdullahi Yusufu Ribadu, Professor and Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC), said the Federal Government only approves the establishment of private universities that meet rigorous standards designed to expand access and strengthen the nation’s higher education system.

‎Represented by Ayoteju Ojo, Deputy Director in the Executive Secretary’s Office at the 20th Anniversary of Redeemer’s University, Ede, Osun State and 17th Convocation, Ribadu said higher education plays vital role in shaping modern society, serving as a source of ideas, innovation, and social transformation.

‎He explained that the policy of licensing private universities was aimed at enhancing capacity and improving quality within the Nigerian university system, saying “Redeemer’s University stands as a shining example of this vision. Since its establishment in 2005, it has produced graduates who are globally competitive, ethically sound, and entrepreneurial in outlook.”

The applications for the 2026 YoungEd Fellowship are now open. If you are an educator in Africa, we look forward to partnering with you on your professional development journey. The application will run from now until November 30, 2025.

YoungEd Fellowship is a capacity-building program for young education sector professionals across Africa.
Fellows receive funding to take online courses, attend masterclasses from industry experts, and participate in think-tank groups to foster collaborative research and shared learning on critical areas of a thriving education sector.

Upon completion, Fellows are equipped with broader perspectives, expanded skills, and a professional community to help them advance their careers.

As part of measures to improve standards of education, Niger state ministry of Basic and Secondary Education is partnering with the United Nations Children’s Education Fund (UNICEF) to train 500 teachers in enhanced access to learning for underserved and disadvantaged children in security prone parts of the State.

The three-day training which took place over the weekend, was for teachers drawn from; Munya, Shiroro and Suleja local government areas on Nigerian Learning Passport (NLP) blended learning. The Education Officer, UNICEF Kaduna Field Office, Dada Bala, in his remarks explained plans to register, enroll and provide courses for 50, 000 number of children on the NLP platform.

The training of the 500, the agency further emphasized, is to equip them with knowledge and skills to utilise the NLP platform for learning and learners’ enrollment. Investing in teachers’ capacity building, according to Dada would sustain educational access in hard-to-reach and secure areas of Niger state. He said, “Trained teachers will leverage blended approaches to extend learning to displaced and vulnerable learners in parts of Niger state”.

The Academic Staff Union of Universities has raised alarm over the mass exodus of senior academics from Nigeria’s public universities, revealing that no fewer than 309 professors have resigned within the last nine months in search of better working conditions abroad.

The ASUU Zonal Chairman for Sokoto, Kebbi, Zamfara, and Katsina States, Professor Abubakar Sabo, disclosed this on Saturday during a town hall meeting organised by the ASUU Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto branch at the institution’s City Campus.

Sabo said the figure represented a growing “intellectual haemorrhage” that threatens the survival of public universities, as many scholars are relocating to the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, Cameroon, and other countries. “From the last action we had until now, we lost about 309 professors — some to private universities in Nigeria, others to the UK, Saudi Arabia, Cameroon, and beyond.

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has embarked on its 18th strike in 26 years, citing the Federal Government’s failure to address long-standing issues affecting public universities across the country.

Announcing the commencement of a two-week “total strike” at a press conference on Sunday in Abuja, ASUU President, Prof. Christopher Piwuna, ordered its members to withdraw their services across the country, effective 12:01 a.m. on Monday, October 14, 2025.

He said the industrial action became inevitable after several unfulfilled promises, stressing that the Nigerian Government had paid lip service to its seven-point demands. The development comes after the two-week ultimatum the Union issued to the Federal Government to address their long-standing demands expired.

This year’s World Teacher’s Day offered stakeholders in the education sector in Nigeria an opportunity to reflect on the state of one of the most critical professions for the development of any society as well as proffer suggestions to address the challenges confronting this category of workers. Teacher’s Day is commemorated annually on October 5.

The Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) seized the occasion to draw attention to the chronic deficit of teachers at the basic education level relative to the number of children at this foundational stage of learning. The union attributed the severe shortage in the requisite number of teachers to deliver qualitative education, which it estimates at 194,876 personnel, to poor welfare, unattractive working conditions, weak motivation and low status.

Decrying what it described as the alarming crisis of manpower in primary and secondary schools nationwide, the NUT stressed the need to decisively tackle this problem as a necessary condition for ‘Recasting Teaching as a Collaborative Profession’, which is the theme of the 2025 commemoration.

Africa’s skills gap is widening, and a new six-country study from the African Center for Economic Transformation (ACET) warns that, without stronger investment in technical and vocational education and training (TVET), millions of young people risk being locked out of decent work, undermining inclusive economic transformation on the continent.

The study, ‘Building Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Systems for Economic Transformation in Africa’, was conducted across six countries – Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Ghana, Niger, Rwanda, and Uganda – in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation.

It reveals persistent underfunding, limited private-sector engagement, and weak alignment between training and labour market needs as key factors undermining TVET success in Africa. It urges public and private stakeholders to strengthen the inclusiveness, responsiveness, and sustainability of TVET systems, offering more than 50 recommendations and priority actions.

Digital literacy is the ability to use digital tools and technologies effectively, safely and responsibly. This includes the use of smartphones and devices, navigating the internet and exploring coding basics. In an era where digital literacy is more important than ever, it’s essential to understand how young children perceive computing concepts.

As a computer science education researcher, I led a team of researchers to study young children’s ideas about computing in an African setting. Our recent study sheds light on how children aged five to eight in Nigeria think about computing, including computers, the internet, coding and artificial intelligence (AI).

While most children were familiar with computers and had some idea of the internet, coding and AI were largely unfamiliar or misunderstood. The children’s understanding was shaped by what they observed at home, school and through the media. This kind of research matters because early digital literacy prepares children for future learning and careers.

Across universities worldwide, a quiet revolution is underway. Generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools such as ChatGPT, Copilot, DeepSeek and Gemini are being used to produce essays, summarise readings, and even conduct complex assignments.

Generative artificial intelligence is a kind of AI that can handle a variety of creative tasks in diverse domains, such as arts, music and education. For many university teachers, this raises alarm bells about plagiarism and integrity. While some institutions have rushed to restrict or support AI use, others are still unsure how to respond.

But focusing only on policing misses a bigger issue: whether students are really learning. As an education researcher, I’m interested in the topic of how students learn. My colleagues and I recently explored the role AI could play in learning – if universities tried a new way of assessing students.

A non-governmental organisation, Brain Builders Youth Develo-pment Initiative (BBYDI) has unveiled a national project aimed at equipping Nigerians with essential knowledge, safety aware-ness, and ethical understanding of artificial intelligence (AI). The group said that the initiative was in alignment with the federal government’s newly introduced curriculum for basic and senior secondary schools.

The BBYDI’s Communication Director, Mr. Sanni Alausa Issa, who spoke with our correspondent in Ilorin, Kwara State on the launch of the project, also revealed that a validation workshop for the AI Literacy Curriculum was held last week at the University of Ilorin, where experts and educators reviewed the materials for nationwide adaptation.

The initiative was tagged ‘AI Literacy for Everyday People.’ Issa stated that similar of such initiative was launched in Osogbo, Osun State recently, describing the project as a “national effort designed to make artificial intelligence understandable, usable, safe, and ethical for all Nigerians, regardless of age, education, or location.

The Federal Government has directed all tertiary institutions to submit comprehensive reports on unutilised intervention funds received from the Tertiary Education Trust Fund within 30 days , saying “sanctions will be imposed on institutions that fail to utilise funds effectively.” The Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, gave the directive in Abuja on Thursday during a meeting with heads of tertiary institutions.

Alausa expressed concern over the huge sums of TETFund allocations that remain unspent across universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education, saying the situation has stalled infrastructural and academic development.

“Institutions must submit reconciled reports of all unutilised funds within 30 days, which will be jointly verified. Unused funds may be redirected to priority projects, and carrying them over without strong justification will no longer be allowed,” Alausa warned.