Nation
UNIZIK Honours Business Mogul, Ezekwe, For Philanthropism
The Nnamdi Azikiwe University (UNIZIK) has conferred the Award of Digital Academic Promoter on the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Arrowconn Group, High Chief (Dr.) Emeka Ezekwe, for his philanthropic gestures.
Chief Ezekwe received the philanthropist award during a landmark technical workshop organised by the Department of Business Education, Faculty of Technology and Vocational Education, Nnamdi Azikiwe University (UNIZIK), Awka, recently.
Making the presentation, the Vice Chancellor of the university, Prof. Ugochukwu Stanley Anyaehie, said the award was in recognition of Ezekwe’s philanthropic contributions, academic support, and dedication to human capital development, hailing his commitment to bridging industry and academia.
Ezekwe who is also the Chairman of Port Harcourt Chamber of Commerce Professional Services and Consultancy Trade Group, delivered a keynote address at the event with a theme: “Technicalities and Application of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Business and Education.”
In his address, Ezekwe described the current AI surge as a civilizational shift rather than a mere technological upgrade.
He compared AI’s rapid trajectory to past innovations like electricity, computers, the Internet, and mobile phones, which he said, progressed from luxuries to necessities.
“AI is reshaping value creation, knowledge sharing, and decision-making at unprecedented speed. It has moved from experimentation to execution, powering business forecasting, academic research, digital learning, and strategic decisions,” he said.
The business mogul, however, warned that in business, delays lead to losses, while in education, irrelevance spells failure.
“AI is no longer optional, it is a necessity,” he declared.
Ezekwe highlighted the critical AI skill gap, driven by curriculum lags, limited training, and fear of the unknown, but stressed the bigger danger which is exclusion.
“Those who master AI will shape markets, education, and policy; those who lag will be shaped by others,” he said.
The Arrowconn Group boss also outlined AI’s practical advantages for businesses —including data-driven strategies, smarter investments, scalable customer insights, and competitive edges for SMEs.
In education, he clarified that AI empowers rather than replaces teachers, enabling personalized learning, efficient lesson planning, assessment support, and accelerated research.
He advocated a shift from rote memorization to critical thinking, creativity, and problem-solving, while preserving human strengths in engagement, judgment, and collaboration.
Ezekwe urged ethical AI development, warning that “technology without values is dangerous,” and called on institutions like UNIZIK to update curricula, train educators, promote interdisciplinary work, forge industry partnerships, and produce graduates who are solution providers in an AI-driven world.
The workshop also marked the unveiling of the maiden edition of the UNIZIK Journal of Business Education and Entrepreneurship, reinforcing the department’s push for scholarly innovation in AI applications.