Professor Oluwatoyin Enikuomehin of Lagos State University (LASU) has called for stronger artificial intelligence (AI) governance in Nigeria, urging the country to build the capacity to shape the emerging algorithmic society rather than merely inheriting technologies developed elsewhere.

He urged individuals to develop critical thinking and the ability to work with AI without surrendering independent judgment, while also practising ethical discernment and protecting their digital identities, as technology increasingly mediates memory, knowledge and decision-making.

Meanwhile, the Defence Headquarters (DHQ) has urged the public to disregard a video of the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Gen. Olufemi Oluyede, allegedly making partisan statements, saying the video was a product of Artificial Intelligence (AI)-generated manipulation.

A statement yesterday by the Director of Defence Information (DDI), Maj.-Gen. Samaila Uba, stated that the statements attributed to him in what he called a “fake video” are false and should be completely disregarded.

According to him, the video was “apparently designed to deceive and mislead the public, misrepresent the position of the Chief of Defence Staff and bring the Armed Forces of Nigeria into disrepute.”

Uba added that the Nigerian Armed Forces remained a professional, apolitical and non-partisan institution committed to the Constitution and the defence of the nation.

The Professor of AI and Cognitive Computing spoke at the institution’s main campus in Ojo, Lagos, during its 127th inaugural lecture titled “Thinking Machines and the Future of Thinking: Cyber-physicalism, the Transformation of Human Thought and the Emergence of an Artificial Intelligence-Driven Algorithmic Society.”

At the societal and university levels, Enikuomehin called for stronger protection against algorithmic harm, universal broadband connectivity, digital literacy and the development of high-quality African datasets.

He further stressed the imperative of African voices contributing to the global AI conversation, while calling on universities to establish dedicated AI research centres, make AI literacy a core graduate competency, develop African datasets as institutional assets and invest in quantum-readiness.

Noting that the algorithmic society was currently being designed, he stressed that Nigeria must contribute to its design rather than merely consume technologies developed elsewhere.

Among others, he further called for the enactment of a comprehensive national AI Act and the establishment of an independent national AI research and governance council to evaluate the social impact of AI systems, advise government on policy, and represent Nigeria in international AI governance fora.

Speaking on the evolution of thinking machines, Enikuomehin said the development of AI has extended the reach of structured human thought, with potential applications across medicine, law, agriculture, education, music, scientific research and governance, though he stressed that computation also has theoretical boundaries.

In the meantime, he warned that AI could also reproduce or amplify existing social inequalities when trained on biased, incomplete or poorly representative data; therefore, the imperative for African researchers is to develop AI systems using African data and for African realities.