Minister: Artificial Intelligence, Robotics Will Promote Inclusive Devt

Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja

The Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu, has stated that artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics technology have a huge potential to promote inclusive development, while describing them as the biggest employer of labour in the nearest future in Nigeria.

Adamu made this known in Abuja at the 2018/2019 For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST) LEGO League- Nigerian Championship in Robotics and Artificial Intelligence, organised by the Ministry of Education, in partnership with Coderina.

The minister, who was represented by the Director, Technology and Science, Mr. Adedigba Olubukola, said the world is being transformed by technology and information, while stressing the need to prepare the young students for the “dynamic future.

“The FIRST LEGO League marks a significant milestone in our quest to reposition education in Nigeria. Communication and technology allow youths to create, innovate and thrive while preparing them for the future work. They gain the skills to solve real life problems within and outside their communities.

“The future work will be different. AI and robotics have been identified as the future jobs; preparing students for this dynamic future therefore starts now,” he said.

The minister stated that untapped talents abound in the country and technology has a huge potential to promote inclusive development. “The landscape of Nigeria is opening up with new start-ups emerging on a daily basis proffering solution to problems within and outside communities and even solving global changes.

“The FIRST LEGO League is an amazing initiative that not only promotes Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM) education through project-based experiential learning, but also instils discipline and social values in students through its core values, professionalism and cooperative learning, thereby ensuring that our students inculcate the right values from childhood.”

Also, the Manager of System Application Product (SAP), Mr, Olajide Ajayi said the programme was designed to inspire young students to create, adding that the programme started in 2014 and almost 16,000 students have been trained across Nigeria.

According to him, the programme has three components; the first is project, to encourage youths to be able to carry out research work, project based learning and find solution to real life problem; the second is robotics; and the third is the social part called the core values, which teaches young children how to be work relate and work on team with others

“We instituted this to see that creativity and innovation are not foreign, there is something called indigenous technology, we should start to build our own, why we are suffering in Africa is because we can’t really make anything, we import everything we use.

“This year alone we have taught about 1,400 students, out of which 600 are present today in the audience. Today, we have 30 schools here, 17 federal government schools and the others are private schools.”