Digital Times Nigeria
  • Home
  • Telecoms
    • Broadband
  • Business
    • Banking
    • Finance
  • Editorial
    • Opinion
    • Big Story
  • TechExtra
    • Fintech
    • Innovation
  • Interview
  • Media
    • Social
    • Broadcasting
Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
Trending
  • Nigeria Must Claim Its Seat In Global AI Economy, Experts Warn At GITEX 2025
  • NITDA DG Calls For Pan-African AI Collaboration At GITEX Nigeria 2025
  • Zinox, KongaCares Partner To Unveil Groundbreaking “Computerize Nigeria” initiative At GITEX Nigeria
  • How Two Nigerian Students Won Airtel Africa Foundation Fellowship
  • Konga Unveils “All In All, Everything ×2 – Category Month” Shopping Campaign
  • Nigeria’s Fintech Growth Hinges On Regulator–Operator Partnership, Stakeholders Say
  • NCC Moves To Strengthen Cybersecurity Framework As Telecoms Face Growing Threats
  • RoW Waiver: The Hidden Backbone Of Anambra’s Digital Revolution
Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
Digital Times NigeriaDigital Times Nigeria
  • Home
  • Telecoms
    • Broadband
  • Business
    • Banking
    • Finance
  • Editorial
    • Opinion
    • Big Story
  • TechExtra
    • Fintech
    • Innovation
  • Interview
  • Media
    • Social
    • Broadcasting
Digital Times Nigeria
Home » Experts @ABoICT 2025 Warn Of Digital Disaster Risks In Nigeria Without AI Governance
CONFERENCE

Experts @ABoICT 2025 Warn Of Digital Disaster Risks In Nigeria Without AI Governance

At the 2025 ABoICT event, both Prof. Adewale Peter Obadare and Amrich Singhal independently emphasized that artificial intelligence, if left unchecked by proper governance, poses a significant risk.
mmBy Rommy Imah30 May 2025No Comments4 Mins Read187 Views
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Telegram LinkedIn Tumblr WhatsApp Email
AI Governance
L-r: Dr. Krishnan Ranganath, Regional Executive, West Africa, Africa Data Centres, Adewale Obadare, chief visionary officer, Digital Encode, Amrish Singhal, chief operations officer, Spectranet, Engr. Ike Nnamani, Managing Director, Digital Realty Nigeria and Rudman Muhammed, Managing Director, Internet Exchange Point of Nigeria, at the 16th Africa's Beacon of ICT Merit and Leadership awards held in Lagos recently.
Share
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Telegram Email WhatsApp

News Highlights:

  • AI Without Governance Is a National Risk
  • A Unified, Multi-Stakeholder Approach Is Urgent

As artificial intelligence (AI) continues to transform the global digital landscape, two prominent technology leaders have issued urgent warnings and strategic calls for Nigeria and Africa to adopt a unified, governance-driven approach to AI development, emphasizing that trust, regulation, and cybersecurity are more important than ever.

At the 2025 Africa’s Beacon of ICT Merit & Leadership Award (ABoICT 2025), held over the weekend in Lagos, Professor Adewale Peter Obadare, Chief Visionary Officer of Digital Encode, and Amrich Singhal, Chief Operating Officer of Spectranet, independently but powerfully echoed the same sentiment: AI without governance is a ticking time bomb.

Delivering his keynote on “AI Governance, Standardization and Cybersecurity in the AI Era,” Prof. Obadare warned against the rising trend of “AI washing”—where companies label basic software or services as “AI” to capitalize on hype, often without the underlying technological integrity or oversight.

“People are calling everything AI today, from photography apps to basic automation, but no one is talking about AI governance,” he said.

Drawing comparisons to the early days of the internet, Obadare cautioned that failing to integrate security and governance into AI architecture could lead to far-reaching consequences. “We are repeating the same mistake we made with TCP/IP, which was not built with cybersecurity in mind. We cannot afford to make that error again.”

He emphasized that governance should not be seen as a hindrance but as an enabler of safe innovation. “Governance is not a brake to stop movement; it is a brake to make movement safe,” he said.

READ ALSO  Applying AI And Machine Learning In Product Management: Strategies For Enhancing User Experience

Citing international standards like ISO/IEC 42001 and ISO/IEC 38507, Obadare called for responsible innovation grounded in clear ethical guidelines, stressing the importance of securing the core components of AI: data, models, and infrastructure.

Echoing similar concerns, Amrich Singhal, chief operating officer, Spectranet in his presentation themed “Responsible AI and Nigeria: Balancing Innovation, Regulation, and Cybersecurity,” stressed that “the countries that will benefit most from AI are not necessarily those with the most powerful models, but those with the most trusted systems.”

Singhal painted AI as a double-edged sword, capable of boosting national productivity while also enabling new forms of cyber manipulation—from deepfakes to identity theft and disinformation. “AI can clone voices, create fake personas, and even undermine democracy. It’s no longer a question of readiness, it’s a question of urgency,” he declared.

He acknowledged Nigeria’s potential due to its youthful, tech-savvy population and its expanding use of AI across sectors like healthcare, agriculture, education, and oil exploration.

However, he criticized existing regulatory structures such as the Nigeria Data Protection Regulation (NDPR) and NITDA’s 2023 draft AI framework as being “underdeveloped, underfunded, and poorly enforced.”

Both experts called for a multi-stakeholder approach to AI governance. Prof. Obadare warned of real-world failures, such as Microsoft’s racist chatbot Tay, Amazon’s gender-biased recruitment AI, and Uber’s fatal autonomous vehicle incident, not as tech failures, but as governance failures.

He also cited cybersecurity breaches, including the 2023 hacking of OpenAI’s ChatGPT and the leak of DeepSeek’s API keys and user data on launch day, to stress that “the danger is not just in the algorithms, but in how we design and deploy them.”

READ ALSO  Digital Africa Conference And Exhibition Begins Today

Singhal proposed a three-tiered strategy to build Nigeria’s AI resilience: government must champion AI education, create safe innovation sandboxes, and enforce data laws; private companies must adopt ethical and secure design practices; and civil society must raise awareness of digital rights and AI risks—especially for vulnerable populations.

In a firm conclusion, Prof. Obadare urged that “governance must be embedded by design,” warning that irresponsible innovation has already proven costly and called on both developers and policymakers to act before Nigeria’s AI future becomes a liability rather than a strength.

Meanwhile, Singhal closed with a stark challenge: “AI is already here. The question is not whether to use it, but how. Nigeria must choose whether AI will be a great equalizer or its greatest vulnerability.”

As the nation moves deeper into the AI era, the message is clear: building trust, enforcing cybersecurity, and embedding responsible governance must be at the core of Nigeria’s AI journey, before it’s too late.

#ABoICT 2025 #Adewale Obadare #AI #AI Governance #Amrich Singhal #Digital Disaster
Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email
Previous ArticleNCC Unveils e-Health Project In Akure To Boost Digital Healthcare
Next Article Tinubu Hails NASENI’s Contributions To National Economy
mm
Rommy Imah
  • Website

Rommy Imah is Founder/Editor of Digital Times Nigeria (www.digitaltimesng.com). He has been in active journalism in over two decades with a bias for technology and business reporting. He is particularly passionate about technology and how it can be used to transform human life, businesses and services.

Related Posts

Nigeria Must Claim Its Seat In Global AI Economy, Experts Warn At GITEX 2025

4 September 2025

NITDA DG Calls For Pan-African AI Collaboration At GITEX Nigeria 2025

3 September 2025

From Radio Waves To Real Impact: Osasenaga Usoh On AI, FasTutorAI, And The Future Of Learning

21 August 2025

NITDA Boss Seeks Convergence Of AI And Security For Sustainable Development

15 August 2025

Telecom Stakeholders Converge On Lagos For Maiden CNII & Telecom Sustainability Conference

4 August 2025

NITRA-ALTON CNII & Sustainability Conference Now Holds August 7

28 July 2025

Comments are closed.

Categories
About
About

Digital Times Nigeria (www.digitaltimesng.com) is an online technology publication of Digital Times Media Services.

Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
Latest Posts

Nigeria Must Claim Its Seat In Global AI Economy, Experts Warn At GITEX 2025

4 September 2025

NITDA DG Calls For Pan-African AI Collaboration At GITEX Nigeria 2025

3 September 2025

Zinox, KongaCares Partner To Unveil Groundbreaking “Computerize Nigeria” initiative At GITEX Nigeria

3 September 2025
Popular Posts

Building Explainable AI (XAI) Dashboards For Non-Technical Stakeholders

2 May 2022

Building Ethical AI Starts With People: How Gabriel Ayodele Is Engineering Trust Through Mentorship

8 January 2024

Gabriel Tosin Ayodele: Leading AI-Powered Innovation In Web3

8 November 2022
© 2025 Digital Times NG.
  • Advert Rate
  • Terms of Use
  • Advertisement
  • Private Policy
  • Contact Us

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.