The Vice-Chancellor of Baze University, Abiodun Adeniyi, has called for better governance of digital spaces. He wants to see ethical guidelines developed to tackle challenges from artificial intelligence and new communication technologies.
Adeniyi spoke at the university’s seventh inaugural lecture in Abuja on Tuesday. He is a professor of communication and media studies. He said that governments, policymakers, and other important players need to see the digital world as a key part of modern life that requires more focus and protection.
He made these remarks during a lecture called, “How Your Village Is Following You: Mobility, Memory and the Mediated Persistence of Belonging.” Using the village as a symbol for origin and identity, Adeniyi explained that technology now allows people to stay linked to their roots even after leaving their hometowns.
Adeniyi pointed out that digital tools have changed migration. They let migrants stay involved with their home countries through social media and other online platforms. “The idea of the village here is not the village that we ordinarily see. I’m using the village as an anecdote for origin, the beginning point, with imagination,” he said.
He added, “The village follows us through the digital space and through ordinary things that we carry about, through our telephone, WhatsApp, social media, diaspora networks, digital memory, and all of that.” He stated that these technologies help people keep their identities rooted in memory and culture, even when they are far from home. He called this the end of ‘departure.’
Adeniyi said migrants create digital footprints that keep their links to their hometowns alive. He described this as “new geographies of belonging.” He said, “Times have changed. Wherever we go, we leave digital footprints, we leave real traces. There are new geographies of belonging, and of course, these geographies also help us to move with our villages.”
He further explained, “We are not carrying the village along, we are not carrying the points of departure along, but it is moving with us at the level of memory, at the level of identity, at the level of belonging.”
As more human interactions take place online, Adeniyi stressed that securing digital environments should be as important as physical security. He urged authorities to put in a “conscientious effort” to improve security and governance in the digital space with regulations and ethical safeguards.
He mentioned that technological progress has made digital platforms central to how people build relationships, shape identities, and keep ties with their origins. “We may not need to be holding these telephones anymore. Maybe some kinds of things will be injected into us, and through that, we’ll be able to communicate,” he said.
He went on, “We are in a world of surveillance. It can be very difficult to hide in a digital space…And if we know that the digital space is critical to our existence, what is the governance context of that space? Is the digital space being addressed properly? Are we not paying lip service to it? Do we not think that there should be a conscientious effort towards growing the security within that space?”
In his welcome speech, the Chancellor of Baze University, Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed, said universities exist to ask tough questions and provide answers that help society understand itself better. He described the inaugural lecture as a reflection of Adeniyi’s intellectual journey and contributions to knowledge.
Baba-Ahmed said the lecture tackled some of the most urgent questions of today, especially how people keep connections with their roots in a world that is increasingly mobile and connected. “It is through occasions such as this that noble responsibilities become visible and tangible,” he said.
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