Kashifu Abdullahi, Director-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), on Friday called for deliberate efforts to build responsible and sovereign Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems that reflect Nigeria’s values, culture, and laws.
Abdullahi made the call in a keynote address delivered virtually at the InnovateAI 2026 Conference held in Lagos, themed: “Responsible AI Beyond Innovation.”
The conference, now in its third edition, was organized by AI in Nigeria.
While noting that AI has brought remarkable advancements to humanity, including improved medical diagnostics and faster disease detection, the NITDA boss said it also poses significant ethical and social risks.
He stressed that these risks must be addressed through strong governance and accountability frameworks.
According to him, Nigeria’s National AI Strategy is anchored on five strategic pillars aimed at ensuring AI systems are fair, inclusive, transparent, accountable, and secure.
“For us to build responsible AI, we need foundational infrastructure, connectivity, computing power, AI-enabled data centres, and the capability to train and retrain models using Nigerian datasets,” he said.
Abdullahi emphasized the need for digital sovereignty, noting that most AI models currently in use are not trained on Nigerian or African realities, thereby embedding biases that could marginalize local communities.
“We do not want to be mere end-users of AI.
“We want to build and own our AI systems. If you are digitally invisible, AI may not recognize your existence, and your data may be treated as noise,” he said.
Abdullahi added that responsible AI must cover the entire lifecycle — from data collection and model development to deployment and continuous feedback.
He said compliance with the Nigerian Data Protection Act and other relevant laws must be integrated into AI development to ensure that “whatever is illegal offline is also illegal online.”
Abdullahi also underscored the importance of explainability in AI systems, stating that users should understand how and why decisions are made.
“As a regulator, we push for systems that can explain why a loan was denied to a farmer, not just that it was denied. Explainability must be built into the system and aligned with Nigerian laws and values,” he said.
He added that Nigeria’s participation in global AI safety initiatives demonstrates the nation’s commitment to safe and responsible AI development.
Earlier, the Chairman of the Nigeria Exchange Group (NGX Group), Dr Umaru Kwairanga, said AI had moved from experimentation to integration across financial services, agriculture, healthcare, media, and public administration.
Kwairanga described AI as an economic imperative, noting that capital flows to markets that demonstrate governance, predictability, and trust.
“The real question is not whether Nigeria will adopt AI. Market forces have already made that decision. The real question is whether we will adopt it responsibly,” he said.
He warned that opaque or poorly governed AI systems could introduce structural risks into financial markets, erode public confidence, and discourage investment.
“In capital markets, trust is the oxygen of the system.
“As AI becomes embedded in trading systems, analytics, and compliance processes, institutions must ensure that technological advancements strengthen transparency and fairness,” he said.
Kwairanga called for regulatory clarity, strategic board-level oversight of AI systems, and deliberate investment in AI literacy across institutions.
He said Nigeria must localize its AI approach to reflect its socio-economic realities, including its large informal sector and evolving digital identity infrastructure.
“Responsible AI in Nigeria must be context-aware. It must support financial inclusion, improve public service delivery, and solve Nigerian problems, while aligning with global standards,” he said.
He identified trust, talent, and transparency as three pillars Nigeria must anchor its AI strategy on to position itself as a credible digital economy in what he described as “Africa’s AI decade.”
Stakeholders at the conference also highlighted the need for inclusion, stressing that responsible AI must cater to everyday citizens, including schoolchildren and students, to ensure that no one is left behind as technology advances.
They agreed that collaboration among regulators, policymakers, technologists, investors, and educators would be critical to building an AI ecosystem that balances innovation with accountability.
The conference brought together government officials, industry leaders, founders, and young innovators to deliberate on frameworks that will guide responsible AI adoption across Nigeria’s economy.
