Nigerian Lecturers Evolving Relationship With AI
Nigerian Lecturers Quietly Embrace AI: A Shifting Dynamic in Academia
Nairobi, Kenya – When Artificial Intelligence (AI) first entered the classroom, the immediate focus was on students and the potential for misuse. Tools like ChatGPT were eyed with suspicion, seen as avenues for cheating, while QuillBot raised concerns about academic integrity. Grammarly, perhaps, was the only one that initially received a pass, viewed more as an enhanced grammar checker than a “thinking machine.” Educators and parents worldwide voiced concerns that AI would dull students’ critical thinking and diminish the value of learning.
However, as the initial apprehension subsides, the spotlight is gradually shifting from students to the faculty. In Nigeria, lecturers are increasingly turning to AI to support their work, quietly integrating it as a powerful, and for some, indispensable, collaborator in their offices.
AI: An Assistive Tool, Not the Brain Behind Teaching
A recent inquiry into how Nigerian lecturers are leveraging AI reveals a common sentiment across disciplines, from humanities to STEM, business, and marketing: AI is viewed as an assistive tool, not a replacement for human intellect in teaching.
For Uchenna Uzo, a professor of marketing and faculty director at Lagos Business School, AI has become a natural extension of his thought process. He doesn’t rely on it to generate teaching material entirely but uses it as a scaffolding tool to organize his ideas. “I use AI to put structure to my thinking, propose relevant examples for projects or amplify what I want to teach the students,” he explains, describing AI as a companion for building student exercises. Beyond the classroom, he uses Perplexity AI to efficiently aggregate existing literature for his research.
Dr. Victor Odumuyiwa, an associate professor of computer sciences at the University of Lagos and director of the university’s tech innovation hub, NitHub, uses AI to clarify complex concepts, explore new developments in his field, and refine questions for his students. He notes that AI helps him stay updated, especially with emerging concepts related to his teaching topics.
Dr. Mayowa Agboola, a senior lecturer in the Department of Business Management at Covenant University and curator of the institution’s startup lab, employs a more procedural and rigorous approach. He utilizes various AI models to find the best fit for his tasks. Dr. Agboola maps out course topics, uploads library-curated materials into an AI tool, and provides explicit instructions, allowing him to condense what was a four-day task into a three-hour sprint. He also uses AI to identify relevant readings, generate weekly topic structures, and even test potential research directions. For him, AI acts as a curriculum planner and a “quiet, creative partner,” freeing up time for deeper thought rather than administrative burdens.
Across these examples, a clear sense of control emerges: lecturers remain at the helm, with AI serving purely in an assistive capacity. Many Nigerian lecturers refine AI outputs to ensure they maintain their unique voice, eliminating the need to start from scratch and significantly reducing the time spent on material preparation.
The Pushback and Shifting Policies
Despite the growing adoption among some faculty, a vocal group of lecturers continues to caution students against AI use. In many classrooms, ChatGPT remains a “dirty word,” often equated with cheating or academic misconduct. Dr. Soji Alabi, an associate professor of communication at the University of Lagos, expresses strong reservations, believing AI dulls students’ intelligence and thinking. He actively discourages its use in both learning and teaching.
However, a growing number of lecturers are choosing to embrace students’ use of AI, albeit with conditions. Dr. Odumuyiwa, for instance, encourages his students to use AI tools in class. This group believes it’s more effective to train students on ethical AI use rather than imposing an outright ban. Dr. Agboola has increasingly adopted presentation-based assessments, while Professor Uzo designs intentionally complex or open-ended exercises that challenge students to think beyond what AI can generate.
A silent tension exists across campuses due to uneven expectations. While students’ AI use is often restricted (typically 10-20% at institutions like Covenant University, with penalties for exceeding limits), formal guidelines for staff AI use are scarce. Lecturers are largely left to define their own boundaries, relying on what “feels right or fair” or what still “sounds like them.”
Training for Tomorrow: Redefining Academia
Beyond streamlining their duties, AI is prompting lecturers to re-evaluate the very purpose of academia. Dr. Odumuyiwa believes the future of AI-powered academia lies in redesigning the class itself. If AI can provide answers, the lecturer’s role shifts to helping students ask better questions.
He emphasizes that “AI is telling us that memorization is not the way to go in designing education.” Citing Bloom’s taxonomy, he notes AI’s proficiency in lower levels of learning like recall and analysis, predicting its future ability to create new knowledge. Dr. Odumuyiwa argues that if education remains stagnant, universities risk producing degrees without globally competitive graduates.
“Many of us are still training for yesterday. Not even for today. The world is moving; we have to start training for tomorrow,” he asserts. He warns that if students perceive a lack of value in traditional classrooms, they will turn to online learning or AI tutors, potentially rendering education obsolete as the world outside evolves faster than the syllabus inside.
The embrace of AI by lecturers signifies a fundamental shift in class design, task assignments, and the very framing of knowledge. In faculty offices across Nigeria, professors are increasingly engaging with AI, marking a new era in academic collaboration.
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