By Ijeoma Olorunfemi

Some Information Communication Technology (ICT) experts say Nigeria is due to establish its indigenous social media platform for the country’s data protection.

The experts, in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja, said that the country was blessed with talented people that had innovative ideas.

Dr Jimson Olufuye, Principal Consultant, Kontemporary Konsult, said that Nigeria has the capability and the capacity, but such initiative was a huge business decision.

Olufuye said, “someone has to commercialise it, see the profit in it and drive it because it is not something that government will normally do, it has to be private sector driven.

“Based on our population, our purchasing power and predominance in West Africa, establishing an indigenous social media platform will offer numerous gains,’’ he said.

The expert added that a home-grown social media platform was an indication that Nigeria was ready for its data sovereignty.

He also said that such applications would operate on the country’s regulations, standards and in its data centre locally.

“As long as it runs locally and we are able to safeguard it following global standards, then our data is better secured,’’ he said.

Mr Akindayo Akindolani, another ICT expert and Founder, McAnderson Institute of Technology, said that Nigeria with more than 164 million active internet subscribers as of first quarter of 2024 is a big market.

Akindolani, who named the Nigerian Communications Commission as source of his data, added that the country was digitally inclined.

“The technical capacity of developing these social media platforms is not our problem, what we lack is consistent investment, digital infrastructure and enabling government policy to nurture these efforts into sustainable platforms.’’

He stated that smart phone usage in the country continued to rise through different affordable mobile devices and had boosted data consumption and online engagement, with about 58 million Nigerians consistently active online.

Akindolani quoted GSMA, a non-profit trade association that represents the interests of mobile network operators globally, saying that 85 per cent of mobile device users use mobile internet for video calls.

He also said that 75 per cent use internet for stream free videos and 54 per cent to access music online.

“This digital boom is fueling the demand for platforms that can serve Nigerian content, communities and creators more intentionally.

“We cannot afford to only be consumers we must be builders and owners in the digital economy space.

“With the right strategy, Nigeria can create platforms that reflect our values, protect our data, empower creators and boost our digital economy,’’ Akindolani said.

Mr Joseph Origbo, an Artificial Intelligence Researcher, said that AI adoption in Africa had risen to 24 per cent, with Nigeria leading.

Origbo also recalled that in the second quarter of 2024, the ICT sector contributed about 18.5 per cent to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GPD), according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

“Today’s social platforms aren’t just digital billboards, they are AI-driven ecosystems, and they decide what you see, who you hear from, and which voices are silenced.

“That’s why Nigeria needs its own platforms, not only for control, but for contextual relevance,’’ Origbo said.

He further said that an AI trained on Nigerian languages, idioms and behaviours would serve the people better than one optimised for users in another country.

He said that such home-grown AI could help in local content moderation, fake news detection, language translation and personalisation that reflect the real lives of the people and not foreign norms.

He also identified some of the challenges to developing such technology to include funding deficits, lack of political will and non-existing strategic national focus on platforms innovation.

“We don’t need to recreate Facebook or Twitter, we need a platform that understands the dynamics in the country,’’ he said.

According to him, digital sovereignty is not a luxury, it is a necessity for any emerging power and Nigeria has the data, the users, the AI talent and the cultural capital.

“What it needs now is vision, matched with investment. If we don’t build our own platforms, someone else will and they’ll own not just our data, but our future,’’ Origbo warned. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

Edited by Francis Onyeukwu