AI, social media, and the reconfiguration of democratic power in Nigeria, by Omoniyi Ibietan
Above is the title of the paper to be presented by Dapo Olorunyomi at a session to be chaired by Mr. Idowu Obasa during a historic homecoming of the two great alumni of the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University).
Obasa, chartered accountant and former chairman of Onigbongbo Local Government of Lagos State,, studied ecomomics and graduated in 1980 while Olorunyomi who studied English and graduated in 1981 returned to Ife to take a master of literature degree exiting in 1984 to deepen impact of journalism of relevance in Nigeria in its most radical, interpretive and investigative form.
Aside from been friends, Obasa and Olorunyomi co-founded (with Bayo Onanuga, Ojudu Babafemi, Kunle Ajibade, and Seye Kehinde), The Independent News Network, publishers of TheNews Magazine, Tempo, AM & PM News. While studying at University of Uyo, I was an intern at PM News in Port Harcourt while Bolaji Adepegba was Editor at the Port Harcourt office.
Speaking to DEVREPORTING, Prof. Gbenga Fasiku, Dean of Faculty of Arts, said the lecture series provides opportunity to reconnect with alumni, and to leverage their intellection through a knowledge sharing process, having excelled in their chosen fields and still helping to uplift humanity.
Heads up on the lecture below as curated by Mojeed Alabi’s DEVREPORTING indicates participants are in for exciting time👇
“Olorunyomi said, with the technology revolution sweeping through the globe, Nigeria currently stands at a critical juncture, even as he claims that the foundation of its democracy is being reshaped.”
“This lecture argues that artificial intelligence and social media constitute a new, digital arena for the age-old struggle over power, acting as both a weapon for emancipation and a tool for control. We will dissect this dualism through two pivotal reference points: the electoral arena, where digital platforms simultaneously empower citizen mobilisation and enable sophisticated disinformation and surveillance, and the educational arena, where AI promises to democratise even as it threatens to exacerbate existing inequalities,” Mr Olorunyomi wrote.
Olorunyomi noted that his lecture will be beyond what he described as the usual “dogma of ‘tech-for-good’ or ‘tech-for-evil’ narrative.”
“Instead, it reveals how these digital systems are actively reconfiguring struggles over truth, legitimacy, and authority, forcing a re-interrogation of what democratic citizenship means in 21st-century Nigeria and its region,” he said.
Sounds like excerpts of an inaugural lecture. I believe Olorunyomi, whom I call Mwalimu, is due for conferment of professor of practice in journalism of development. It is high time he got it like Taiwo Oyedele who’s been fittingly conferred by Babcock University and Dr. Abraham Nwankwo who’s appropriately conferred with professor of practice title by Miva University.
Dear friends, I will share the link to virtual participation at the Ife lecture which will take place on the 18th of November 2025.
