The Shamsuddeen Usman Foundation (SUF) has said it is working to establish the first artificial intelligence (AI) centre in Nigeria to develop education.
A Trustee of the foundation, Sadiq Usman said this while speaking with reporters in Abuja on Thursday.
The centre, dedicated to advancing skills, innovation, and economic development through AI, will be formally launched on 26 September, alongside the foundation’s official inauguration and the release of a new book about Dr Shamsudeen Usman’s life.
The Foundation was created in honour of the former Minister of Finance and National Planning, Dr Shamsudeen Usman by his children to continue his legacy in education and technological advancement.
The foundation’s mission is to empower individuals, corporations, researchers, and students to explore and develop advanced AI and technological solutions for real-world challenges.
Usman said Nigeria could use AI to leapfrog “to the fourth industrial revolution”.
He said: “We at the foundation feel that Nigeria and Nigerians must not be left behind in the fourth industrial revolution which is well under way.
“We in Africa are still trying to catch up with the first and second industrial revolution; we’re still talking about building energy, infrastructure, roads, but the world is talking about and moving to the fourth industrial revolution.
“But the beauty of it is that you can leapfrog to the fourth without achieving the second or the third”.
Usman said the foundation and a book –Public Policy and Agent Interests: Perspective from the Emerging World – by Shamsudeen Usman, a former minister, would be officially unveiled on 26 September.
He added: “The book, together with the Foundation, would be publicly unveiled on Thursday, 26 September – one week and a day after his 75th birthday.
“This book is a unique publication on both the impetus for, and impediments to growth and development in emerging economies.
“It provides a fascinating and penetrating insight into the workings of government and the boardroom, in terms of policy formulation and implementation, economic management as well as the overall growth paradigm in the developing world, with Nigeria as a case study.
“It is also an account of the interactions between the government, its agencies and the private sector and how such engagements impact national growth, investments and the overall performance of the economy.
“The book will therefore be a veritable reference material for policymakers, technocrats, business leaders and public officials on the workings of government and governance and the tradeoffs they have to make in designing and implementing public policy”.
