For the past few days I have been privileged to attend a training program at the Said Business School, University of Oxford, UK. The theme of the training was Leadership in Higher Education and Artificial Intelligence and held from 8th to 11th July 2025 and was facilitated by Oxford City Academy for Education and Development.
It was an extremely rewarding and engaging experience and I definitely learnt quite a lot. Attending the training came at the right time for me, for I will give the Lead Paper at the Opening Ceremony of the 12th COEASU National Conference to be held on Tuesday August 5, 2025, at the Kano State College of Advanced Studies. I had already prepared for the Lead, but this training enabled me to rewrite quite a few things based on real-life exchange of experiences from top international experts in the discipline.
Perhaps more remarkably was that the training was hosted by the University of Oxford (established in 1096) and an epitome of educational conservatism. Yet the university is at the forefront of adopting AI and integrating into its teaching, learning, assessment and administration. Obviously, the staff and the students at the University are on the same page regarding responsible use of technology, especially AI. For the most part, students in Nigeria see AI as a replacement of learning, rather than a tool for learning. You give an assignment, and a student Ais it, without even reading it, and submit as original work. Thus dulling their brains, and eliminating their God-given creativity.
So yes, all the aspects of AI were explored, the good, the bad, and the ugly. Thus we are not about to adopt AI blindly — and whether we like it or not, AI is here to stay anyway, so we have deal with it. One of my takeaways was the formation of what I light-heartedly call the establishment of Artificial Intelligence Policing Alliance (AiPA). My broad aim is to focus on policing AI usage in an ethical manner. We are all being carried away with the fetishization of AI that we overlook its potentials for misleading synthesis of information (what is referred to as AI hallucination). A focus on AI Detectors that will enable a more careful and ethical usage of AI is absolutely necessary in any training program on AI. It is this area that I want to really focus on.
For each day of the training, experts shared their vision and actual practices of AI in higher education. The most philosophical statement about the entire program was by Kieran Gilrmurray (whose session I Chaired) when he stated “AI is not here to take your job – it is here to take your tasks”. This is illuminating, for there are fears that AI is dulling our creativity and originality. But then every technological paradigm shift came with its challenges since the first industrial revolution. But we all lived through it and became better at utilization of technology to enhance our lives.
The training program included a “walking tour” of some of the more picturesque landmarks of University of Oxford. This included a tour of Baliol College founded in 1263 and has a claim to be the oldest college in Oxford and the English-speaking world. It was a privilege to walk through the halls and corridors of the College, established when Guguwa was the king of Kano from May 1247 to January 1290.
And Shamsuddeen Sani will kill for this – a 15% discount on any purchase at Blackwell’s Oxford bookshop! I eagerly took the offer and bought heaps of young adult and children’s fiction for my autalliya and three grand kids. As immersed as I am digital technology, I would prefer these Princesses and Princes of my twilight days to love physical books as much I did at their ages.
My fellow attendees included HE Prof. Hafizu Abubakar (Chairman of Council, Northwest University), HE Nasir Yusuf Gawuna (Chairman of Council, Bayero University Kano), Prof. Sagir Adamu Abbas (Vice-Chancellor, Bayero University Kano) Prof. Mukhtar Kurawa (Vice-Chancellor, Northwest University). I attended on the sponsorship of the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) as a former Vice-Chancellor. This constellation of academic leadership means that BUK and Northwest are poised to revolutionize their program deliveries within the next couple of years along the international trend of responsible AI adoption in teaching, learning and research.
However, one of the most joyful moments for me at Oxford was meeting Engineer Haroun Muhammed, born and bred in Ɗan Agundi, Kano Municipal. He works as a freelance management consultant, advising governments and businesses on sustainable development, energy innovation, and climate resilience across both developed and developing economies.
He is currently pursuing his D.Phil (the more “academic” snobby title for PhD, which I also did at Sussex University) in Engineering at the University of Oxford with specialization in Energy. His research focus is, among other things, examines the opportunities and risks of developing a hydrogen-based economy in the Global South, with a particular focus on political instability and the prospects for export-oriented clean energy. Ultimately, the goal is to generate strategic insights that inform effective energy policy and investment, balancing immediate energy needs with long-term sustainability. If you are finding it difficult to wrap your head around this Oxford grammar, just copy and paste this into your favorite AI tool for simplification!
University of Oxford is an expensive and highly selective university. It is not your money or position that gets you in – it is your brain. So I was so happy and proud of him, and on self-sponsorship, too. I am sure there are many like him around ivy league universities around the world. Allah Ya kara musu hazaƙa.
Prof. Adamu is former Vice Chancellor of NOUN
