Technicians and systems administrators in the public sector on Monday in Abuja received training on artificial intelligence (AI) data compliance and procedural fairness.
The workshop, organized by Nelphia Consulting, a firm specializing in emerging technologies, was aimed at strengthening the technical capacity of public sector personnel.
Dr Emeka Godspower, Chief Executive Officer of Nelphia Consulting, said the session was designed to bridge the gap between the rapid adoption of AI and the critical need for ethical safeguards.
He noted that while data is a national asset, ethics is essential to making it truly valuable.
“Our goal is not just to help our people keep pace with global AI trends, but to position them as leaders by creating frameworks that respect local data compliance.
“We are teaching these technicians that a procedure is only as good as the ethical foundation on which it is built,” he said.
Godspower warned that without responsible curation of local data, the country risked importing biases that do not reflect Nigeria’s social and cultural realities.
Some participants at the workshop, who spoke in interviews, said the training had changed their perspectives on system design.
Mr Pius Adebisi, a systems engineer, highlighted a practical shift in his workflow.
“Before this training, my primary focus was on system efficiency and uptime. After the sessions, I now realize that efficiency without equity is a technical failure,” he said.
Adebisi said he had learned how to audit datasets for under-representation before the training phase begins.
Another participant, Mr Johnson Ukpayang, a data analyst, told reporters that the training emphasized the importance of local context.
“What struck me most was the deep dive into local data governance. It’s one thing to collect data and another to ensure that the data reflects our cultural nuances.
“This workshop has given us the technical vocabulary to demand better standards from AI tools,” he said.
The lecture, delivered by the firm’s senior consultant, Mr Isaac Wiko, focused on three pillars: procedural bias mitigation, local data architecture and compliance with the Nigeria Data Protection Act (NDPA).
Wiko said that by upskilling technicians, the firm aimed to ensure that future AI-driven public services—from healthcare diagnostics to agricultural forecasting—are built on a foundation of trust, not just code.
