Nigeria’s push to lead in artificial intelligence (AI) will depend less on ministerial enthusiasm and more on political will. For all the energy and foresight of Bosun Tijani, Minister of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy, experts like technology lawyer Timi Olagunju argue that only a presidential mandate and a national governance framework can anchor AI as a true economic priority.
Olagunju, who holds a Master’s in Public Policy from Harvard University, focusing on emerging technology governance, has spent over a decade shaping digital policy in Nigeria and abroad. His work on net neutrality informed the Nigerian Communications Commission’s (NCC) regulatory framework, and his recommendations to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy contributed to the U.S. executive order on advancing AI education. When he assesses Nigeria’s current AI efforts, he sees a landscape driven more by passion than structure: an ecosystem lacking the institutional coherence and political will necessary for national-scale transformation.
The National AI strategy lays out an ambitious, multi-stakeholder roadmap for harnessing artificial intelligence to power sustainable development, boost productivity, and accelerate innovation. The strategy is anchored in broad collaboration—engaging government, academia, local and diaspora experts, and the private sector—to develop an AI framework that addresses local realities while embedding ethical standards and human-centred design. A key element of this vision involves digitising indigenous languages and data, ensuring that AI systems reflect Nigeria’s cultural and social diversity.
The strategy’s core pillars include expanding digital infrastructure through the planned rollout of 90,000 km of fibre-optic network, nurturing a world-class AI ecosystem, accelerating AI adoption across government and industry, promoting responsible governance and regulation, and investing in talent pipelines via the 3 Million Technical Talent (3MTT) initiative. Tijani’s plan seeks to position Nigeria as an African innovation powerhouse, using AI as a lever for job creation, improved governance, and global competitiveness while building partnerships that model responsible AI deployment across the continent.
Yet despite Tijani’s energy and advocacy, his AI blueprint remains largely ministerial in scope. Although the minister has obtained presidential approval to elevate AI as a national economic priority with the National AI Trust & Universal Connectivity Project, legislative action has been slow to follow, leaving the policy without full institutional backing. This is precisely where Timi Olagunju’s critique strikes most sharply.
“The challenge is governance,” he told in an interview. “AI cannot be driven by one ministry or an enthusiastic minister. It needs to be a political and presidential priority. What China did right when it rose to global AI relevance was to make AI a national consensus — a political, not just technical, issue.”
Olagunju draws parallels with the United States, where the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) sits within the White House, close to executive power. “If even advanced democracies understand that policy innovation must sit close to the presidency, then Nigeria must do the same,” he said. “That’s how you cut through bureaucracy and ensure AI isn’t just a buzzword but a real engine of transformation.”
How Africa is moving on AI governance
Across Africa, lawmakers are beginning to take concrete steps toward AI governance, signalling that governments no longer see artificial intelligence as a distant concept but as an urgent policy frontier. Since mid-2025, the Pan-African Parliament (PAP) and the ECOWAS Parliament have convened high-level workshops and summits to fast-track regional and national frameworks. At a landmark workshop held in South Africa in September 2025, the PAP called for the creation of a continental Model Law on AI Governance and a Parliamentary Toolkit to help member states craft legislation around AI ethics, innovation, and regulation.
At the national level, Kenya has launched its National AI Strategy (2025–2030); Ghana is drafting an Emerging Technology Bill that includes AI governance; and countries like Rwanda, Mauritius, Senegal, Tunisia, and Egypt have all formalised national AI policies or initiated parliamentary consultations. Meanwhile, Nigeria and South Africa continue to lean on their existing data protection and digital economy laws, though both are beginning to explore targeted AI policy updates.
“The National Digital Economy Bill, which also seeks to address issues around AI governance, is one of how the legislative arm is trying to support efforts to develop an AI strategy for Nigeria,” said an official in the Ministry of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy who spoke on condition of anonymity.
However, the National Digital Economy and E-Governance Bill (2024) does not explicitly mention “artificial intelligence” or provide direct regulatory mechanisms for AI development, deployment, or oversight. Instead, it focuses on establishing a legal and operational framework for electronic transactions, digital service delivery, e-signatures, government data management, digital infrastructure, and consumer protection within Nigeria’s broader digital economy.
Beyond Tijani’s vision
Olagunju acknowledges the significant strides made by Tijani in creating awareness and initiatives like Data Science Nigeria’s indigenous language model project, but he warns that such efforts risk becoming isolated successes without an overarching governance structure.
“There’s commendable work going on — the minister’s global advocacy, Data Science Nigeria’s LLMs, public-private partnerships — but these are piecemeal,” he said. “A piecemeal approach can only deliver piecemeal outcomes. For Nigeria’s AI ambitions to succeed, they must be backed by political consensus, like the one that powered China’s AI transformation.”
For Olagunju, the problem goes deeper than policy, saying it is a governance gap. He argues that Nigeria’s legislature and civil service have yet to meaningfully engage experts in crafting forward-looking laws and oversight frameworks for AI.
“We’ve not seen the National Assembly or even state assemblies call for public input on what laws or bureaucratic structures might be impeding innovation,” he said. “In the U.S., the OSTP is currently reviewing outdated laws that hinder AI progress. We’ve never seen such an exercise in Nigeria.”
The politics of technology
Olagunju believes that innovation in emerging economies like Nigeria’s is inherently political. “Our society is more political than we admit,” he said. “Politics can either destroy or deliver governance. Culture determines the spirit of a nation, but politics can reform culture. If AI must work here, politics has to lead, not follow.”
He points to precedents where presidential intervention unlocked progress — from the creation of a presidential committee on tax reform to energy transition offices directly under the presidency. “Those examples show that when you move a priority into the presidential orbit, it gains traction. That’s the same logic Nigeria must apply to AI.”
Governance and the talent opportunity
Beyond politics, Olagunju identifies Nigeria’s true AI potential in what he calls the “talent stream.” “We’re not playing in the upstream — chips, infrastructure, or data centers — because those require energy and heavy capital,” he explained. “But Nigeria can lead globally in the downstream: talent, data annotation, AI-assisted services, and applied AI for governance, finance, media, and agriculture.”
He argues that this talent potential can only be realised through a handshake between universities and the private sector, especially the Nigerian diaspora. “Imagine if public universities partnered with diaspora experts to offer certificate programs in AI-related skills,” he said. “They’d not only upskill students but also generate billions in new revenue. This is how you align education with innovation.”
Singapore’s example, he noted, provides a roadmap. “In Singapore, people over 40 who reskill in AI get tax rebates and subsidies. It’s a governance strategy that helps people transition into the future of work. Nigeria can do the same, but it must start by integrating AI literacy into education policy — from universities to technical colleges.”
Creating a national innovation and technology council with broad representation from academia, civil society, and the diaspora would ensure continuity beyond electoral cycles. “Otherwise, every new administration restarts from scratch,” he warned.
Ultimately, Olagunju insists that Nigeria’s AI strategy must be built on three pillars: political consensus, presidential leadership, and inclusive governance. “Vision is good, but it must be institutionalised,” he said.
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