President and Chairman-in-Council, Nigerian Publishers Association, Uchenna Anioke, has called on the Federal Government to  involve publishers in any education curriculum change.

Mr Anioke made the call at the 2024 Annual Conference and General Meeting of the association, on Thursday in Lagos.

The conference had the theme: “Publishing in the Age of Artificial Intelligence: Exploring The Future of Content Creation, Delivery and Copyright.”

Mr Anioke said that publishers’ involvement was necessary because of the pivotal role of publishers in actualising such a change.

He said, “It is publishers that will ultimately produce and make available, in whatever format, the outcome of such a curriculum change. The current practice of not carrying publishers along is totally unacceptable and must be dumped for a more collaborative approach. To do otherwise, that is, to continue effecting curriculum change without  active participation of the partners in the book chain –  publishers, authors, printers, booksellers and others – will amount to direct and indirect intellectual sabotage.’’

He also called for revitalisation of abandoned and moribund paper mills in the country.

“Without sustainable and functional paper mills, publishers and printers will continue to look outside our shores for publishing and printing deals,” Mr Anioke said.

He called for an education policy that would encourage massive production of books in the three major Nigerian languages.

“Examples abound of countries that have developed uncommonly in writing, teaching, research and publishing using their indigenous languages. They include Russia, China, Germany, Japan and India. TETFUND must be encouraged and empowered by the government to work with publishers, authors and translators to achieve this onerous objective,” Mr Anioke said.

He said that the theme of the conference was chosen to reflect the realities of the times, considering the global impact of Artificial Intelligence and how it helped in accelerating activities worldwide.

According to Mr Anioke, publishers are vendors of knowledge and are expected to gain much by applying AI technology in  publishing.

A former President of Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria. Rasaq Jaiyeola, said that publishers should thrive in the AI era to contribute more to Nigeria’s education system.

Mr Jaiyeola, Chief Consultant at A.J. Silicon and Chairman of the conference added that publishers and authors would need to be knowledgeable about AI  to be able  to safeguard their intellectual property rights.

The Vice-President of NPA,  Lukman Dauda, said that there was need for publishers to embrace AI in the interest of the industry.

Mr Dauda, who is also the Managing Director of Evans Brothers (Nigeria Publishers) Ltd., also urged publishers to approach the conference with open mind.

He said, “The decision we make today will shape the future of our industry.”

(NAN)