As Artificial Intelligence (AI) spreads across Nigeria, from hospitals to banks and classrooms, one important question keeps coming up, whose data is it learning from?
Many of the AI systems we use today were built abroad, trained on data from other countries. They recognise Western accents better than African ones, understand foreign cultural references more than local realities, and may even produce biased results without meaning to. This problem is becoming a serious issue as Nigeria adopts AI in critical areas like healthcare, finance, and education.
Experts have warned that Nigeria’s AI development could suffer if it depends too heavily on foreign data and technologies. AI learns patterns from data; if the data doesn’t reflect Nigerian people, languages, and experiences, then the systems will make poor decisions for Nigerians. For instance, a healthcare AI model trained on European data might misinterpret symptoms common among Africans. A loan algorithm might score local entrepreneurs unfairly because it doesn’t understand their business environment.
This is why there’s growing talk about “indigenous data.” In simple terms, it means data that represents Nigeria’s people, environment, and realities. Building and protecting this data locally ensures AI systems are fairer, more accurate, and truly beneficial. It also touches national pride – data is now as valuable as oil, and countries that don’t control theirs risk losing digital sovereignty.
But it’s not just about data. The way AI is used also raises ethical questions. For example: Who is responsible if an AI system gives a wrong diagnosis? Should AI-generated content be labelled? How can we protect personal information in a world where machines process everything we type or say?
The National Human Rights Commission and some universities have started calling for AI governance frameworks – basically, laws and guidelines to make sure AI serves people responsibly. The University of Lagos, for instance, recently began work on a policy to promote ethical use of AI in academics and research. This is a welcome move, but Nigeria still lacks a unified national strategy to handle AI’s rapid growth.
Government regulators need to move fast to create policies that cover data protection, accountability, and transparency. Private companies using AI in Nigeria should also be required to explain how their systems make decisions – a concept known as “explainable AI.” When people understand how a machine reaches a conclusion, they are more likely to trust it.
Lastly, collaboration is key. Nigeria’s universities, startups, and government agencies should work together to build local datasets in health, agriculture, language, and business. If we keep depending on imported AI, we’ll also be importing foreign biases.
AI can do amazing things for Nigeria; from predicting floods to improving farming and diagnosing diseases early. But it must be built on our own stories, our own voices, and our own data. Without that, AI will always treat us as strangers in our own digital world.
It’s time for Nigeria to take ownership – not just of the technology, but of the intelligence itself.
