Redeemer’s University VC Prof. Shadrach Akindele Warns Against Unethical Use of AI in Research

Vice-Chancellor of Redeemer’s University, Ede, Osun State, Prof. Shadrach Akindele, has said the use of artificial intelligence in research must be within ethical boundaries.

Akindele, who disclosed this in Ede, Osun State, on Wednesday at the opening session of the 2026 edition of the Postgraduate Biennial Conference of the university, tasked scholars with developing relevant data and ethical artificial intelligence solutions capable of addressing Nigeria’s development challenges.

The VC, while speaking on the theme of the conference, ‘AI and Sustainable Development: Collaborative Solutions for Global Challenges,’ advised scholars to learn how to use AI, adapt to it, and apply it responsibly to their work.

“Artificial Intelligence is no longer a distant concept; it is here, and it is here to stay. We must learn it, adapt to it and apply it responsibly to the work before us. Postgraduate students will increasingly use AI tools in their research, but that use must remain within acceptable ethical boundaries,” he said.

He charged universities to come up with solutions to the myriad challenges confronting the country, saying research must go beyond producing journals and should lead to policies and innovations that can transform society.

He further said, “Universities are entrusted with asking difficult questions, challenging assumptions and proposing solutions to government, industries and communities. The problems of insecurity, energy shortages and environmental degradation remain urgent in our society. We must not stop working towards solutions to these challenges. Research must go beyond producing journals and lead to policies and innovations that can transform society.”

He noted that collaboration among various stakeholders across different disciplines remained central to sustainable development, adding that no discipline or institution could independently provide all the answers required to solve global and local problems.

The keynote speaker at the event, the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ibadan, Prof. Kayode Adebowale, who was represented by Prof. Muyiwa Omobowale, said Nigeria must embrace AI and ensure its use in responding to the country’s realities.

Omobowale, however, said Nigeria needed relevant local data that would make AI useful to the people while keeping innovations coming from the country globally relevant.

“This conference is timely because it seeks to capture and prepare the next generation of Artificial Intelligence developers. Postgraduate students and researchers have an important role in shaping AI solutions for Nigeria’s development.

“For AI to be sustainable, there must be access to quality data and collaboration among academics, students, the private sector and government. Sound policies are also needed to ensure that Artificial Intelligence is deployed ethically and responsibly for the good of humanity,” Omobowale said.

Myschoolnews reported that a Nigerian-born cybersecurity professional, Grace Durotolu, called for the adoption of an AI-driven national cybersecurity policy to safeguard the country’s critical infrastructure against rising digital threats.

Durotolu, who is conducting research on the intersection of artificial intelligence and cyber defence, warned that conventional measures were no longer sufficient to counter advanced persistent threats, zero-day exploits and sophisticated social engineering attacks.

She said, “Conventional signature-based security measures have been found to be insufficient against advanced persistent threats, zero-day exploits and advanced social engineering attacks which define the new form of cyber warfare.”

Her recent study, Leveraging AI and Machine Learning for Threat Detection and Adversarial Defence in Cybersecurity, found that AI-driven solutions can achieve detection accuracy rates exceeding 95 per cent while reducing false positive rates by up to 60 per cent.