Pro-Chancellors Demand AI Policy, Digital Governance Committees in State Varsities

ABUJA — The Committee of Pro-Chancellors of State-Owned Universities (COPSUN) has directed the management teams of state tertiary institutions across Nigeria to immediately establish specialized Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Digital Governance Committees.

​The apex administrative body stated that the urgent policy intervention is necessary to regulate the rapid adoption of emerging technologies, defend institutional databases against cyber warfare, and ensure absolute academic and financial integrity.

​The comprehensive resolution was contained in a communique issued on Sunday in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, by the Chairman of COPSUN, Prof. Ayodeji Omole. The blueprint emerged from intense regulatory deliberations during the body’s 8th Biennial Conference, which was recently hosted in Kano State.

​Prof. Omole stated that as higher institutions navigate an increasingly digitized global landscape, Nigerian state universities cannot afford to lag behind or operate without structured frameworks. He charged governing bodies to quickly develop comprehensive digital integrity strategies targeting three critical fronts: automated financial operations, digitalized academic assessment processes, and student data protection.

​Curbing Proliferation and Enhancing Security

​In a bid to stem the rising tide of sophisticated cyber threats targeting school servers, COPSUN recommended a direct administrative synergy between university managements and federal law enforcement organs.

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​“Universities should collaborate with anti-graft and intelligence agencies for joint training on server security and intelligence-sharing in the management of university affairs,” Prof. Omole remarked. This strategic partnership aims to build the technical capacity of university IT personnel to counter institutional fraud, certificate racketeering, and server breaches.

​Furthermore, the committee called on federal regulatory agencies—particularly the National Universities Commission (NUC)—to formulate strict baseline policies limiting the sheer number of universities a single state government can establish. The pro-chancellors warned that the current trend of state governments establishing multiple tertiary institutions while starving existing ones of critical infrastructure is highly unsustainable.

​Strategic Funding and Economic Synergy

​Addressing the perennial crisis of university funding, COPSUN turned its focus toward financial sustainability and fiscal discipline. The committee sternly admonished state governors to upscale their budgetary allocations to higher education, while simultaneously challenging university administrations to actively seek alternative revenue streams.

​The communique noted that universities must look beyond traditional alumni networks for financial rescue, urging them to aggressively pursue institutional endowments from affluent philanthropic organizations, corporate bodies, and high-net-worth stakeholders within their immediate host communities. However, the body maintained that transparency and absolute accountability must remain the non-negotiable bedrock of all university financial records.

​To bridge the wide gap between academic research and commercial industrialization, the conference resolved that every state-owned university should establish active Intellectual Property (IP) and Patent Offices. These units will be explicitly tasked with transforming abstract research breakthroughs into viable commercial innovations, creating an economic synergy with industries to drive national growth.

​Moving forward, COPSUN announced plans to directly engage the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) to map out realistic boundaries, address systemic limitations, and unlock the latent potential of state universities to ensure they remain globally competitive.