Better Education, Stronger Tech Infrastructure Essential For AI Adoption – Researcher
First published 26 January 2026. Rewritten on 13 October 2026. The original was based on an interview carried by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN); we have added context from official documents and other reports.
Talk about artificial intelligence in Nigeria often jumps straight to the exciting parts: chatbots, start-ups and new jobs. In an interview with NAN in Abuja on Monday 26 January 2026, research scientist Dr Friedrick Ubokudom pulled the conversation back to the unglamorous foundations. Nigeria’s path to responsible AI, he said, runs through better education, stronger digital infrastructure and ethics built into every stage of development.
What the researcher said
Ubokudom, who is also a data analyst at a private technology firm, said responsible adoption means combining strong policy frameworks with investment in local capacity, and working with universities and industry. Nigeria’s National AI Strategy, he noted, already sets the foundation, but the harder steps are scaling the pipeline of talent, putting ethical governance in place and improving the digital infrastructure that AI systems depend on.
What the strategy actually says
The National AI Strategy, led by the communications and digital economy ministry with NITDA as a key implementer, sets a five-year vision for 2025 to 2029. It rests on five pillars: building foundational infrastructure such as computing centres, building an AI ecosystem through partnerships and talent, speeding up adoption in sectors such as agriculture, health, education and finance, ensuring responsible and ethical AI through an expert ethics group, and developing a governance framework with an AI risk management approach. It aims to equip 70 per cent of the youth workforce with foundational AI skills and builds on the 3 Million Technical Talent programme, which began in November 2023. NITDA’s director-general has also spoken of a target of 95 per cent digital literacy by 2030.
The obstacles, in the strategy’s own words
The document is candid about the problems. It lists limited and unreliable infrastructure, low broadband penetration, small public spending on research and development at around 0.2 per cent of GDP against a global average near 2.2 per cent, a shortage of skilled AI professionals, brain drain and weak data quality. Our own reporting shows the connectivity gap: broadband penetration was about 57 per cent in mid-2026, according to the telecoms regulator. There are rules coming too. Since February 2025, federal institutions need NITDA approval to buy AI-enabled IT systems worth ₦10 million or more, and a bill proposing a national AI commission was introduced in the Senate the same month.
Why education comes first
Tools change quickly, but people who can think critically, work with data and judge a machine’s output will remain valuable. That is as true for a secondary school student as it is for a civil servant buying software. Schools and universities need teachers, devices and reliable electricity, and workers need affordable ways to retrain.
What readers can do now
- Build basic digital and data skills, and use free or subsidised programmes such as 3MTT where you qualify.
- Treat AI output with care, check facts and protect your personal data. See our guide on data privacy.
- Look for ways to apply AI in your work or business, then measure the results.
For the wider picture, read our guides on Nigeria’s digital economy, tech trends in Nigeria and Africa and the digital skills checklist for professionals.
