UNIZIK Honours Emeka Ezekwe at AI Workshop as He Urges Faster Adoption

Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, hosted a major conversation on artificial intelligence in business and education, with Dr. Emeka Ezekwe taking centre stage as special guest of honour and keynote speaker.

Ezekwe, who is Managing Director/CEO of Arrowconn Group and Chairman of the Port Harcourt Chamber of Commerce Professional Services and Consultancy Trade Group, spoke at the workshop organised by the Department of Business Education under the Faculty of Technology and Vocational Education. The programme took place at the ASUU-NAU Secretariat and focused on the theme, “Technicalities and Application of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Business and Education.”

At the event, the university recognised Ezekwe with a Philanthropist Award and an Award of Excellence, also described as the Award of Digital Academic Promoter. The honours were presented by the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Ugochukwu Bond Stanley Anyaehie, who said Ezekwe has consistently supported academic growth and practical links between industry and the classroom.

In his keynote, Ezekwe said the present AI wave should be seen as a civilisational shift, not just another software trend. He compared its rise to earlier technologies such as electricity, computers, the internet, and mobile phones, noting that each moved from luxury to everyday necessity.

He said AI is already changing how value is created, how knowledge is shared, and how institutions make decisions. According to him, the technology has moved beyond pilot projects and is now being used for business forecasting, digital learning, academic research, and strategy execution.

Ezekwe said delay now carries real costs. In business, he said, hesitation can erode competitiveness. In education, he said, institutions that fail to adapt risk becoming irrelevant. He added that while curriculum delays, limited training opportunities, and fear of unfamiliar tools remain barriers, the bigger risk is exclusion.

“Those who master AI will shape markets, education, and policy; those who lag will be shaped by others,” he said.

He also outlined practical gains for companies, including stronger data-led decisions, better investment planning, improved customer intelligence, and fresh opportunities for small and medium-sized businesses. For the education sector, he said AI should support teachers, not replace them, by helping with personalised learning, lesson preparation, assessment, and research.