Stop Blaming Politicians: How Nigerian Youths Can Use AI to Win

Photo: The Punch

Oga, The Complaint Department Is Closed

Let's be honest with ourselves. How many times have you sat down with your friends, ordered suya, and spent the whole evening dissecting what Abuja politicians are doing wrong? We've all been there. The fuel price. The dollar rate. The light that hasn't come since Tuesday. The governor who promised roads and delivered nothing but photographs.

But here's the gbas gbos nobody wants to hear — while we are busy complaining, the world is moving. And it is moving fast. Catholic Bishop Matthew Kukah recently dropped something that should wake every Nigerian youth up from their frustration slumber. He said artificial intelligence is handing young Nigerians a golden opportunity — not just to survive this country's wahala, but to genuinely build something that can transform their lives and Nigeria itself.

The man has a point, abeg. A very sharp point.

What Bishop Kukah Is Really Saying

When a man of Kukah's calibre — someone who has never been afraid to call out bad governance and speak truth to power — tells you to stop waiting on politicians and pick up a tool, you should listen. This isn't one of those motivational speeches that sounds nice and goes nowhere. This is a practical call to action.

Kukah's message is simple: AI is a leveller. It doesn't care if you grew up in Makoko or Maitama. It doesn't ask for your state of origin or your father's connections. If you have a laptop, a smartphone, and internet access — even the patchy, overpriced MTN data we are managing — you have access to some of the most powerful tools ever created by human beings.

And yet, so many of our youths are using those same phones to scroll TikTok for six hours and argue about football. Nothing wrong with enjoyment, but balance is needed, my people.

The AI Revolution Is Not Waiting for NEPA

Here is the reality on ground. Right now, today, there are free and affordable AI tools that Nigerian youths can use to start businesses, learn new skills, create content, and solve real problems. Tools like ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Canva AI, Midjourney, and dozens of others are available and accessible. Many have free tiers. Some have been fully embraced by Nigerian entrepreneurs who are already making serious money.

Think about what this means practically:

• A young writer in Enugu can use AI tools to build a content agency serving international clients and earning in dollars — without leaving their room.
• A fresh graduate in Kaduna can learn prompt engineering, a skill that companies worldwide are desperately hiring for, through free YouTube tutorials and practice.
• A small business owner in Lagos can use AI to handle customer service, create marketing content, and analyse their business data — things that used to require expensive consultants.
• A farmer's child in Benue can explore AI-powered agricultural tools that are helping smallholder farmers improve yields and access better markets.

These are not fantasies. These are things Nigerians are already doing. The question is whether more of our youths will join or keep waiting for the government to save them.

The Hard Truth About Nigerian Politics

Now, let's not pretend the politicians deserve zero blame. They deserve plenty. The infrastructure is terrible. Electricity is a joke. Broadband penetration is still embarrassingly low for a country of over 200 million people. Corruption has swallowed funds meant for education and development. All of this is real, documented, and genuinely painful.

But here is the thing — and Kukah understands this deeply — waiting for the Nigerian political class to fix itself before you start building your life is like waiting for Dangote's refinery to bring fuel to your village tap. It might happen eventually, but you'll be old and grey by then.

The most successful Nigerian entrepreneurs didn't wait. They built in spite of everything. They bought generators for their offices, got Starlink when the local ISPs failed them, found creative workarounds for every obstacle. That same energy now needs to be directed toward AI and digital technology.

So What Should Nigerian Youths Actually Do?

Alright, enough motivation talk. Let's get practical. If you want to take Bishop Kukah's challenge seriously, here is where to start:

• Learn one AI tool properly this month. Don't try to master everything at once. Pick ChatGPT or Gemini and spend 30 minutes a day learning what it can do for your specific goals.
• Identify a problem in your community that AI could help solve. Nigeria has millions of unsolved problems — healthcare access, education gaps, agricultural inefficiencies, financial exclusion. Any one of these could be the foundation of a startup.
• Join Nigerian AI and tech communities online. Groups like AI/ML Nigeria, StartupList Africa, and countless WhatsApp and Discord communities are full of young Nigerians already building. Connect with them.
• Take free courses seriously. Google, Microsoft, Coursera, and others offer free AI and digital skills certifications. These open doors, both locally and internationally.
• Start small, start now. You don't need a big idea or big funding. Start with what you have, where you are.

Nigeria's Future Is Being Written Right Now

Here's what keeps me up at night as someone who watches this country closely — the next decade will determine whether Nigeria becomes a serious player in the global digital economy or gets completely left behind. Other African countries like Kenya, Rwanda, and Egypt are already positioning aggressively in the AI space. Our continental competitors are not sleeping.

Nigerian youths have always been creative, resilient, and resourceful. We've proven that in music, film, sports, and entrepreneurship. Nollywood didn't wait for government funding. Afrobeats didn't wait for infrastructure. Our people built those industries on hustle and ingenuity.

The same DNA that produced those successes can build a thriving Nigerian AI ecosystem — one that creates jobs, solves local problems, and competes globally.

Bishop Kukah is not telling you that the system is fair. He's telling you that while you're fighting the system, the tools for your liberation are already in your hands. The question is whether you'll pick them up.

The choice, as always, is yours. But the time to make it is now.