GITEX 2025: NITDA Boss Reaffirms Nigeria’s Commitment to Ethical AI, Plans Indigenous Language Model M-ATLAS

The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has reaffirmed Nigeria’s commitment to leveraging Artificial Intelligence (AI) for national development, innovation, and global competitiveness, emphasizing a strategy built on ethical and inclusive principles.

Speaking at a Fireside Chat during the AI Stage of the Gulf Information Technology Exhibition (GITEX) 2025 in Dubai, NITDA Director General Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, CCIE, stated that Nigeria’s approach to AI adoption is “deliberate and strategic.”

“Our vision is clear on how we can harness the transformative power of AI through responsible, ethical, and inclusive innovation to foster sustainable development through collaboration,” Inuwa said.

Inuwa outlined that Nigeria’s national AI strategy is guided by five core principles: responsibility, ethics, inclusivity, sustainability, and collaboration. He stressed that these values must be reflected in every AI activity, as the goal is to shape a future that works for everyone.

The strategy is structured around three key objectives and five strategic pillars, focusing on building foundational infrastructure, accelerating adoption across critical sectors, promoting responsible AI, and ensuring effective governance.

Inuwa highlighted the significant role AI is already playing across sectors:

* Agriculture: AI helps farmers make informed decisions using real-time data on soil, weather, and crop health.

* Healthcare: AI enables faster diagnosis and extends services to rural areas.

* Education: AI literacy is being embedded into formal learning to prepare young people.

* Finance: AI tools are detecting fraud, improving credit access, and driving financial inclusion.

He also projected AI’s potential to enhance public services, envisioning a future where citizens can obtain passports or business permits in minutes rather than weeks, thereby “rebuilding trust between government and citizens.”

M-ATLAS: Building an Indigenous Large Language Model

The NITDA boss revealed that 70% of Nigeria’s online population already uses generative AI tools, surpassing the global average of 48%—a testament to the nation’s youthful population and investment in digital talent.

To ensure this digital growth is culturally relevant and unbiased, Inuwa announced Nigeria’s plan to develop its indigenous Large Language Model (LLM), named M-ATLAS.

“Nigeria has over 500 languages and countless dialects. If we rely only on foreign AI models, they won’t understand our nuances, culture, or people,” he explained. “That is why we are building M-ATLAS, an indigenous LLM that reflects our diversity and eliminates bias. We want an AI that understands the meaning of ‘akwa’, ‘ekaabo’, or ‘sannu,’ not just translates them.”

Inuwa cited other government initiatives, including the Digital Literacy for All programme (DL4ALL), which targets 95% national digital literacy by 2030, and the 3 Million Technical Talent (3MTT) programme.

The Director General concluded with optimism, asserting that Africa can surpass its mobile technology success in AI because “we are building from within, shaping the rules, not catching up with them. If we get it right, AI can help Nigeria achieve tenfold or even hundredfold improvement in productivity and innovation.”