The University of Lagos (UNILAG) has upgraded facilities at its Centre for Digital Humanities (CEDHUL) to strengthen digital research, preserve African cultural heritage and promote the documentation of indigenous languages.
The newly remodelled Learning Hub/Workstation and Postgraduate Lecture Room were commissioned on Tuesday, October 27, 2026, by Lagos State Deputy Governor, Dr Kadiri Obafemi Hamzat, who was represented by the Commissioner for Special Duties and Intergovernmental Relations, Olugbenga Oyerinde.
Hamzat commended the university management for investing in educational excellence, innovation and research. He said the facilities would help higher education institutions embrace digital transformation and prepare students and researchers for emerging challenges.
He added that the centre could promote interdisciplinary research, digital archiving, cultural preservation and knowledge exchange while equipping students with relevant digital skills.
Representing the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Folasade Ogunsola, the Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Academics and Research, Professor Mathew Ilori, congratulated the CEDHUL team, led by Professor Tunde Ope-Davies, on the development.
Ilori said the upgraded facilities would strengthen efforts to digitise Nigeria’s indigenous languages, oral traditions, literary works, historical records, archaeological resources and cultural knowledge, making them more accessible to researchers and global audiences.
He highlighted the role of digital tools and artificial intelligence in helping historians preserve collective memory, linguists document indigenous languages, literary scholars explore digital storytelling and philosophers contribute to the ethical governance of emerging technologies.
The German Consul-General in Lagos, Daniel Krull, was represented at the event by the Deputy Consul-General, Katharina Ziegler. She congratulated the university, its Faculty of Arts and CEDHUL, describing the development as an opportunity for young Africans to understand the past, question the present and shape the future.
Ziegler reaffirmed the German Government’s commitment to educational, cultural and academic cooperation, including support for scholarly research. She also expressed confidence that the centre would help preserve African heritage and enable Africans to tell their stories in their own voices.
Earlier, CEDHUL Director, Professor Tunde Ope-Davies, described the commissioning as a major milestone in the centre’s ambition to advance digital humanities scholarship and create a platform for African ideas, culture and knowledge in the digital age.
He said the university’s support since the centre’s inauguration in 2019 had helped realise its strategic vision, adding that the institution now had what he described as sub-Saharan Africa’s first comprehensive postgraduate school in Digital Humanities, with Senate backing.
The Dean of the Faculty of Arts, Professor Mudashir Ilupeju, also commended the university management for supporting efforts to modernise humanities scholarship and encourage multidisciplinary research.
The ceremony featured the unveiling of a commemorative plaque and the cutting of a ribbon by Oyerinde on behalf of the deputy governor. The upgraded Learning Hub/Workstation and Postgraduate Lecture Room are located in Suites B302 and B303, respectively, in UNILAG’s Faculty of Arts Building.
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