Why Nigeria Must Adopt an AI Policy for Universities Now—Before It’s Too Late!

In a Nigerian classroom years ago, I found myself daydreaming about my future college plans. Nigeria is filled with immense talent, brilliant minds, and significant challenges. It presents the perfect setting for technology to drive impactful change. When we discuss transformative technology today, nothing is more significant than artificial intelligence.

Now that I am a student at a university in the United States, I am witnessing the global push for AI education firsthand. There’s no exaggeration—it’s a competitive sprint. Numerous American universities are offering genuine AI courses that combine coding, ethics, and practical applications. Similarly, in India, AI has become a staple in technical education, thanks to progressive government initiatives. Yet, in Nigeria, the situation is markedly different.

Many Nigerian universities hardly touch on AI in their programs. When they do, it’s typically just an introductory course with outdated content. Forget about engaging in deep machine learning projects—most departments lack GPUs, cloud credits, or even a stable internet connection. Lecturers are stretched thin. The infrastructure is crumbling. How can we expect such institutions to teach one of the most resource-demanding fields in modern computing?

I remember the computer science courses I attended in Nigeria focused on outdated programming languages and obscure theories. Friends still enrolled in Nigerian universities tell me not much has changed. While the rest of the world advances with AI-driven innovations and specialized tools, students are left grappling with decades-old programming.

Contradictorily, Nigeria is already utilizing AI-powered solutions. AI learning systems, or AI tutors, are in use in various schools. Yet, these tools help students only with other subjects and not in learning how to develop or understand AI themselves. We are nurturing a generation of consumers instead of innovators. It’s like relying on a calculator daily without ever grasping the underlying mathematics.

I remember picking up AI basics from YouTube and online courses, struggling with poor internet and malfunctioning laptops. A fortunate few managed to explore libraries like TensorFlow and PyTorch on their own. For the majority of Nigerian students, however, the digital divide is vast. Only a privileged few can even try to undertake independent learning.

As I reflect here in the U.S., I recognize the long-term repercussions this will have on Nigeria’s future. We often refer to ourselves as Africa’s giant and a forthcoming tech center. However, how can we hope to compete when our universities produce graduates unprepared for the era’s biggest technological advancements? While other countries are cultivating AI engineers, ethicists, and researchers, we remain tethered to a bygone era that no longer meets our needs.

The potential consequences are dire. Without an AI education ecosystem, we will lack tools developed specifically for Nigeria’s unique circumstances—our languages, healthcare system, or farming conditions. We will rely on LLMs created elsewhere that may not address our requirements. Furthermore, we will continue to lose our brightest talents to international institutions. Our top students seek opportunities abroad, many of whom never return. We export our best while keeping our challenges.

What is needed is clear: a bold, national AI policy for Nigerian universities. The National Universities Commission and the Ministry of Education must collaborate to create an AI curriculum framework to be universally adopted. This cannot be a mere afterthought. Essential skills, infrastructure needs, and faculty training programs must be integrated into every computer science department across the nation.

The public sector must also seek collaborations with global tech leaders like Google and Microsoft, along with local innovators such as Flutterwave and Paystack. These organizations can contribute by supplying hardware, facilitating cloud services, and offering practical training sessions. This is not merely charity—it is a savvy investment in developing future talent.

Beyond the educational institutions, we need innovation centers, including national AI hackathons aimed at tackling challenges specific to Nigeria, government-funded research grants, and fellowships that encourage and keep the brightest minds. We should make it appealing to stay, build, and innovate in Nigeria.

The urgency for this to happen is clear: the AI revolution is already in progress. It is reshaping economies and altering the conditions for national prosperity. Delaying action could result in an insurmountable cost of catching up, or it may become impossible altogether. We risk becoming mere consumers of AI created elsewhere, left on the fringes in a future we should be helping to define.

Education in AI is not merely a technological concern—it’s a matter of survival. It pertains to sovereignty, opportunities, and creative progress. It is about equipping Nigeria’s youth to take on their rightful role, rather than just dreaming about it. We possess the talent; what we require now is the foresight—and the determination to act before it becomes too late.

(Arinze D. Okigbo is pursuing a degree in computer science and is currently interning with a startup that tackles rising cybersecurity issues in a world driven by AI.)