The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has announced plans to collaborate with tech companies to prevent artificial intelligence (AI) applications from harming Nigerians.
The Executive Secretary of the Commission, Tony Ojukwu SAN, disclosed this during an AI Governance webinar organized by the International Network for Corporate Social Responsibility (IN-CSR) in partnership with the United Nations Working Group and the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA).
The announcement follows the African Union’s (AU) approval of the “Continental Artificial Intelligence (AI) Strategy,” which encourages the adoption of AI in both public and private sectors across member states, including Nigeria.
Speaking at the workshop, Ojukwu warned that without strong ethical frameworks, AI could increase inequalities, introduce algorithmic bias, invade privacy, and infringe on human rights. However, he described AI not as a threat but as an opportunity for the NHRC to expand its human rights mandate into the digital space.
To protect Nigerians from AI-related harm and discrimination, he said the NHRC would engage tech companies to ensure transparency in AI algorithms, allowing for independent audits, redress mechanisms, and accountability measures. He also stated that the Commission would require companies to conduct human rights due diligence (HRDD) before deploying AI technologies.
Despite AI’s growing sophistication, Ojukwu emphasized that human oversight remains crucial. He assured that the NHRC would act as a bridge between government agencies, private sector innovators, researchers, and civil society in shaping AI governance. The Commission’s role, he explained, would include fostering dialogue, sharing best practices, and coordinating with regulatory bodies.
Ojukwu urged stakeholders to establish clear accountability frameworks for AI developers and deployers in Nigeria.
Speaking at the event, Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, Director General of NITDA, highlighted the agency’s efforts to address AI risks. Represented by Barrister Emmanuel Edet, he said NITDA is developing diverse, high-quality local data sets to ensure AI models are inclusive and free from biases found in foreign data.
He revealed that NITDA has partnered with an AI startup and other government agencies to develop Nigeria’s first government-backed large-language model (LLM). This model is being trained in five low-resource Nigerian languages and accented English to enhance the representation of Nigeria’s linguistic diversity in AI applications.
He reaffirmed NITDA’s commitment to ensuring AI systems deployed in Nigeria uphold transparency, accountability, and fairn
ess in governance.
