Expert Decries Effects of Technology on Knowledge Production, Calls for Vigilance

Uchechukwu Nnaike

A professor of English Language at the University of Lagos, Akachi Ezeigbo, has called for vigilance in mitigating the effects of technology use on knowledge production.

She regretted that students are using technologies with increasing dexterity to circumvent rules to pass examinations and win popular competitions.

Ezeigbo, who was the chief examiner at the just-concluded Mike Okonkwo annual essay competition for Nigerian secondary schools, noted that AI apps like ChatGPT, Google Assistant and Gemini, and online commercial writers who generate essays and sell to students have because normal features of the country’s educational system.

She, however, described the seven finalists of the Mike Okonkwo Essay Competition as a glimmer of hope, saying that they used their hearts and heads to engage with issues within the ambits of knowledge production methodologies.

“They are the ones who, through original thinking, generate the content on which technology leeches. We must, therefore, encourage them to sharpen their thinking and critical skills by acknowledging their contributions and rewarding their efforts,” she said.

According to her, out of the 551 essays received this year on the topic, ‘Nigeria’s Pathways: Diagnosis and Prescriptions’, 341 showed direct evidence of infractions.

She added that apart from the eight participants invited to the second and validation round of the competition, others fell below the quality threshold of 50 per cent.

The chief examiner stated that only seven candidates turned up for the second round, and “we tested their familiarity with current events by asking them to produce essays on the topic, ‘Protest Against Misgovernance: The Gains and the Pains’.”

She added, “They responded to the challenge by producing intriguing extempore descriptions and analyses of everyday life as they observe it in contemporary Nigeria.”

The winner of the competition, Flourish Olaoye of Christ the King International School, Gbagada, received a cheque for N500,000, a trophy and a plaque, while her school got a set of computers.

The first runner-up, Nora Femi-Lawal of Chrisland High School, Lekki, got a cheque for N250,000 and a plaque, while her school also received a set of computers.

The second runner-up, Esther Olayimika of Corona Secondary School, Agbara, got a cheque for N150,000 and a plaque, while her school got a computer set.

The other finalists received a consolation prize of N20,000 each.

Delivering the 23rd Bishop Mike Okonkwo annual lecture, ‘Nigeria’s Pathways: Diagnosis and Prescriptions’, Kanu Agabi (SAN) identified some of the challenges in Nigeria, including corruption, disregard for the constitution and the rule of law, dismissing the nation as an artificial creation, difficulty with free and fair elections, challenges posed by the legal system.

He stated that the country is not self-reliant, and the education offered to youths does not equip them for life.

Agabi also regretted that the country had been characterised by the assimilation of the opposition by the government and that the scale of the crime is beyond the capacity of the law enforcement agents to cope with, among other challenges.

He stated that the citizens must make themselves the agents of the desired change, noting that it “is our own insights that shall determine the future of the nation.”

He added that the leaders must have a vision of where they are taking the country; they must be driven by a passionate and inordinate drive to succeed.

He upheld the presidential system of government, saying that the power vested in the president would enable him to apply drastic measures to take the nation along that path of austerity and sacrifice, leading to self-reliance.

The Mike Okonkwo National Essay Competition was launched in 2004 as part of the celebrations for the birthday of the Presiding Bishop of TREM, Dr. Mike Okonkwo.