On Thursday, the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) president, Margaret Oguntala, said artificial intelligence was a major technological component needed to achieve food security in Nigeria.

Ms Oguntala said this in Lagos at the investiture of Oluseun Faluyi as the fourth national chairman of the Nigerian Institution of Safety Engineers (NISafetyE), a division of the NSE.

“I can confirm that AI cannot be relegated as one of the major technological components required to achieve food security in Nigeria,” she said.

Ms Oguntala, the first female president of the NSE, said, “Sustainable national growth, advancement and productivity are increasingly dependent on improved capacity in all spheres, which include the deployment of artificial intelligence in crucial fields such as safety engineering.

“We will all agree that this lecture is coming at a period when we are experiencing a gamut of challenges in different sectors of our economy – financial, agricultural, medical, and even engineering – all with challenges that have direct underlying safety issues.

“Artificial Intelligence will come in handy to help tackle some, if not all, of these challenges. Therefore, there is not a more appropriate time for this discourse than now.”

Mr Faluyi revealed his plans toward bringing positive changes to the institution by focusing on increased financial resilience, organisational, inspiring stakeholder engagement and nurturing, learning, growth and development.

The guest lecturer, Adeyemi Adetunji, called for improved safety culture practices in Nigeria to curtail avoidable accidents, untimely deaths and disasters in the nation.

Mr Adetunji, the former executive vice-president of Downstream, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Ltd., said safety should be a watchword in all branches and arms of engineering because engineers were problem solvers.

He cited examples of petroleum tank fire disasters, road crashes, and building collapses, which were avoidable if engineering codes, standards, and ethics were upheld.

Mr Adetunji called for more focus on safety across sectors of the economy for the safety and preservation of lives, property and the environment.

He listed factors inhibiting adherence to safety rules in Nigeria, including poor regulatory environment, bureaucracy, low emergency response, lack of punishment for offenders, and corruption, among others.

Mr Adetunji called for engineers to commit to applying their knowledge and skills to solve societal problems. He called for regular ICT training and retraining in addition to applying codes and standards for infrastructure to prevent disasters.

(NAN)