The National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) has unveiled a new national diploma (ND) curriculum in artificial intelligence (AI) for polytechnics.

The executive secretary of NBTE, Prof. Idris Bugaje, said at the unveiling in Abuja on Thursday that the curriculum was developed in response to the growing global demand for AI skills and emerging technologies.

Mr Bugaje said the curriculum was aimed at equipping Nigerian graduates with cutting-edge digital skills for the future workforce.

He said the board had introduced the higher national diploma (HND) in AI years ago but discovered that graduates entering the programme required stronger foundational knowledge. 

“This informed the development of a standalone ND curriculum in AI. 

“We realised that only about 20 per cent of what students studied in HND Computer Science was relevant to HND AI, while 80 per cent has become general knowledge.

“We decided to do a whole curriculum at national diploma level, right from the beginning on AI, and that is the product we are unveiling today.

“With that, we had to again change the HND, currently under review, to increase the content,” he said.

He expressed optimism that the country would produce cutting-edge technicians and technologists in the area of AI in the coming years. 

He said the new curriculum would produce highly skilled technicians and technologists capable of meeting industry needs.

Mr Bugaje said lecturers from institutions intending to offer the programme would undergo compulsory five-day training in Abuja and Lagos before commencing the programme.

He added that the training would expose lecturers to new AI concepts and technologies that were not covered in conventional computer science programmes.

The NBTE boss said the board had fully digitalised its regulatory activities, including accreditation, resource inspection and quality assurance processes, in line with its technology-driven reform agenda.

He also disclosed that the board had reduced the cost of curriculum development by about 50 per cent through the deployment of AI tools.

“AI generated the zero draft of our latest curriculum, while it is also being used to produce digital courseware for distance learning programmes.

“Artificial intelligence is no longer the future; it is already the tool of today and will become even more indispensable,” he said.

Mr Bugaje urged Nigerians to embrace AI, saying it would simplify work processes and improve productivity across sectors.

He said several countries had approached NBTE to establish partnerships for deploying Nigerian AI graduates to address skill shortages abroad.

According to him, the board is already implementing the Nigerian youth skills empowerment programme, through which ND holders in electrical engineering receive further training and employment opportunities in Denmark and Poland.

He disclosed that discussions were ongoing with Denmark on a similar arrangement for graduates of Artificial Intelligence programmes.

Earlier, the Director-General, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Kashifu Abdullahi, commended NBTE for introducing the curriculum.

Represented by the senior manager at NITDA, Yakubu Musa, the DG described the initiative as a major step toward preparing Nigerian students for the digital economy.

Mr Abdullahi recommended that AI education should not be limited to computer science students but integrated across disciplines, including engineering, agriculture, business and architecture.

He also called for continuous curriculum reviews to keep pace with technological changes and stronger collaboration between academia and industry to bridge emerging skills gaps.

The NITDA boss reaffirmed the agency’s commitment to partnering with NBTE and other stakeholders to strengthen digital skills development and innovation-driven education in Nigeria.

On her part, the first PhD holder in AI, Amina Magaji, said continuous learning, ethical application of AI and deliberate investments in digital literacy were essential for Nigeria to fully harness the opportunities offered by emerging technologies.

Ms Magaji, while recounting how she earned a PhD in AI more than a decade ago, said initially, the programme presented limited opportunities until the emergence of generative AI transformed global interest in the field.

The AI expert said she chose to work on innovation rather than politics after returning to Nigeria, using her expertise to support AI startups and promote innovation-driven solutions.

According to her, one of her major contributions was leading the development of a digital literacy and capacity-building framework that was later adopted in the education sector, incorporating AI and other emerging technologies into the curriculum.

She said, “I had the opportunity to engage with this field over 11 years ago. And when I was coming back to Nigeria, I was really worried about what I could do with it.

“I kept on asking myself, what can I do with it? You know, people were creating robots. Things were happening 11 years ago.

“I felt innovation was more closely related to my technical skills than being more of a politician. So I took the NITDA role of innovation. 

“Moving forward, I used the opportunity to help startups that had ideas and were building platforms. But I had more affinity to the AI startups, because that was my goal, and we evolved like that.”

Ms Magaji added that through a partnership with NITDA under a World Bank-supported Africa Centre of Excellence project, she helped develop and facilitate master’s and doctoral programmes in AI and related technologies.

The expert said the rapid rise of generative AI convinced her that even experienced professionals must continually update their knowledge to remain relevant.

She said concerns over government bureaucracy also inspired her to establish a non-profit foundation dedicated to promoting AI literacy and digital inclusion across Nigeria.

The foundation, she said, aims to make AI knowledge accessible to all Nigerians, including women, rural communities and persons with disabilities.

Ms Magaji urged stakeholders to prioritise inclusive AI education, saying no Nigerian should be left behind in the country’s digital transformation.

(NAN)