Nigeria risks losing AI talent without school reforms, expert warns
Nigeria sits on a young, ambitious population. Yet without a clear path for AI education, the country keeps training its brightest minds for someone else's economy.
Technology strategist Alabi Alexander Olalekan warns that with over 60% of citizens under 25, the absence of structured training, incentives, and innovation infrastructure will keep pushing talent abroad. His message to education leaders is simple: treat AI as basic literacy across the school system.
Why this matters for educators
- Fewer than 1% of Nigerian universities offer formal AI or data-science programmes. Students are piecing skills together from YouTube, bootcamps, and peer groups.
- Over 20,000 tech workers reportedly left in the last two years-citing weak career paths, unstable infrastructure, and economic uncertainty.
- When AI engineers leave, communities lose problem-solvers who could build flood early-warning tools, local-language health chatbots, or smarter learning platforms.
What schools can implement now
- Embed AI literacy from SS1: data basics, algorithms at a conceptual level, ethics, prompt writing, and project-based work tied to local problems.
- Go practical: use small datasets (market prices, rainfall, attendance), teach simple models, and require students to present outcomes and limits.
- Low-connectivity delivery: adopt offline-first tools and locally cached content; look to platforms like uLesson and Afrilearn for blended learning.
- Teacher capacity: run "train-the-trainer" sessions each term; set weekly practice labs so teachers build alongside students.
- Local relevance: projects in agriculture yield prediction, traffic counting, waste sorting, or Yoruba/Hausa/Igbo chat assistants for school administration.
System actions for ministries, agencies, and state boards
- Curriculum integration: standard AI modules from junior secondary; practical assessments over theory-heavy exams.
- Strengthen 3MTT: transparent funding, clear cohort outcomes, and deeper collaboration with tech hubs for internships and apprenticeships.
- Incentivise local hiring: tax breaks and grants for firms employing Nigeria-trained AI talent; reward schools that place graduates into local roles.
- Infrastructure basics: shared device labs, reliable power alternatives, and offline content mirrors at state education resource centres.
- Public-private projects: co-develop capstones with ministries (health, agriculture, environment) so student work solves real problems.
Inclusive pipelines: bring more women into AI
- Targeted scholarships and mentorship: prioritise underserved communities; pair learners with working professionals.
- Safe, consistent communities: women-led clubs, weekend build sessions, and clear pathways into internships.
- Track outcomes: enrollment, completion, placement, and retention by gender-publish results each term.
Quality and accountability
- Measure what matters: student projects shipped, internships secured, local employers engaged, and jobs created.
- Iterate fast: refine modules every term based on feedback from teachers, students, and hiring partners.
Olalekan's core point lands: "We are not lacking brilliance in Nigeria. What we lack is the infrastructure and opportunity to keep that brilliance here." Treat AI as basic literacy, make it practical, and build clear bridges from classrooms to local jobs. Even half of these steps moves youth from job seekers to builders.
Resources
- Nigeria's 3MTT programme (NITDA)
- UNESCO guidance on generative AI in education
- Curated AI courses by job role - Complete AI Training
Current efforts from AltSchool Africa, Zindi Africa, and 3MTT are useful-but they reach a fraction of learners. Expanding curriculum, teacher training, and employer incentives can change the trajectory. The talent is here. Let's build the path to keep it here.
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