By Babatunde Adekanmbi
An Editorial Perspective on the Argument of Professor Ojo Emmanuel Ademola
Nigeria turns 66 with a familiar question hanging over the country: after six decades of independence, what must change for Nigeria to finally convert its enormous potential into broad-based prosperity?
The answer may lie less in another review of what Nigeria has failed to achieve than in a hard look at the Nigeria that must be built for the decades ahead.
Professor Ojo Emmanuel Ademola places that challenge squarely in the Digital Age. His central thesis is clear: Nigeria cannot build its next phase of development with yesterday’s economic assumptions and institutional models. It must deliberately transition from a resource-dependent economy to a knowledge-driven, digitally enabled, secure and sustainable one.
This is not simply an argument for more computers, faster internet or more technology start-ups. It is an argument for national transformation—for rethinking how Nigeria educates its people, runs its institutions, creates wealth, secures critical infrastructure and competes in the global economy.
And the argument is particularly relevant to Nigeria.
For decades, the country’s economic fortunes have been closely tied to oil and other natural resources. Yet the Nigeria of today is far more than an oil economy. It is home to a huge informal sector, millions of small businesses, a rapidly growing technology ecosystem, a globally influential creative industry and a youthful population increasingly connected to the digital world.
The contradiction is that this enormous energy operates alongside persistent structural weaknesses.
Millions of Nigerians still contend with unreliable electricity, inadequate transport and digital infrastructure, limited access to quality education, unemployment and underemployment, insecurity and barriers to formal economic participation. For many businesses, particularly micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, the cost of power, finance, logistics and connectivity remains a major constraint.
This is where Ademola’s argument becomes particularly Nigerian in its relevance.
Digital transformation should not be treated as an imported development fashion. It should be deployed to solve distinctly Nigerian problems.
Consider agriculture. Nigeria has vast agricultural potential, yet farmers continue to face challenges involving market access, financing, storage, logistics, weather information and productivity. Digital platforms, satellite data, sensors, mobile financial services and artificial intelligence could help connect farmers to markets, improve decision-making and reduce inefficiencies across the agricultural value chain.
Consider the informal economy. From the roadside trader in Ibadan to the market woman in Onitsha, the artisan in Kano and the small business owner in Aba, millions of Nigerians participate in economic activity outside conventional formal structures. Digital payments, identity systems, financial technology and accessible online marketplaces can help bring more economic activity into systems where entrepreneurs can obtain finance, build records and reach larger markets.
Nigeria has already demonstrated what is possible through fintech.
The country’s rapid adoption of digital financial services shows that Nigerians are not resistant to technology. Where technology solves a real problem, Nigerians can adopt it at remarkable speed.
The challenge now is to replicate that ingenuity across other sectors.
Lagos has become a prominent centre of Nigeria’s technology and start-up ecosystem, while Abuja, Port Harcourt, Ibadan, Enugu, Kaduna and other cities are developing their own technology and innovation communities. The opportunity is to ensure that this energy does not remain concentrated in a few urban centres.
A genuinely Nigerian digital transformation must reach beyond Lagos.
It must connect the university student in Nsukka, the entrepreneur in Aba, the farmer in Benue, the creative professional in Lagos, the manufacturer in Nnewi, the trader in Kano and the public servant in Abuja to a common digital economy.
That requires infrastructure.
Broadband connectivity, dependable electricity, resilient telecommunications networks, cloud services and secure data centres are no longer luxuries. They are economic infrastructure.
A business cannot reliably operate online when electricity is unpredictable. A student cannot fully participate in digital education without affordable connectivity. A government cannot deliver secure digital services without dependable infrastructure and cybersecurity.
This is why Professor Ademola’s digital argument must also be understood as an argument about infrastructure, inclusion and national capacity.
Nigeria’s Greatest Digital Asset Is Its People
The country’s greatest advantage may ultimately be its people.
Nigeria has one of the world’s youngest populations, and its young people are already demonstrating their capacity to innovate, create businesses, produce music and films, build technology products and participate in global digital markets.
But a youthful population becomes an economic advantage only when it is properly educated and productively engaged.
Nigeria therefore needs an education system designed for the economy that is emerging—not simply the economy that existed yesterday.
Coding, data science, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and digital entrepreneurship should become increasingly visible within education and skills-development programmes. Teachers require continuous training. Universities need stronger research capacity. Technical and vocational education must be connected more closely to industry.
And the learning process cannot end with graduation.
The speed of technological change means that lifelong learning will increasingly determine whether workers remain economically relevant.
In this sense, Ademola’s vision is ultimately a human-capital agenda as much as a technology agenda.
From Oil Wealth to Knowledge Wealth
Nigeria’s transition from resource dependence to knowledge-driven growth will not happen by abandoning oil overnight.
It will happen by ensuring that technology makes every productive sector more efficient.
Agriculture can become data-driven.
Manufacturing can become more automated and connected.
Logistics can become more efficient.
Financial services can become more inclusive.
Small businesses can reach customers beyond their immediate locations.
And Nigeria’s enormous creative economy can become a larger source of exports and employment.
Nollywood and Afrobeats have already shown that Nigerian creativity can travel around the world. Digital platforms have accelerated that reach.
But the country must ask a further question: how much of the economic value generated by Nigerian creativity remains with Nigerian creators and businesses?
Intellectual-property protection, digital distribution, access to finance and stronger creative-industry infrastructure will be essential if cultural influence is to translate into sustained economic value.
Cybersecurity Is Part of National Security
The more Nigeria digitises, the more seriously it must take cybersecurity.
Government databases, financial platforms, telecommunications networks, businesses and critical infrastructure are increasingly dependent on digital systems.
A serious cyberattack is therefore no longer merely a technical inconvenience. It can disrupt economic activity, compromise sensitive information and undermine public confidence.
Professor Ademola’s professional emphasis on cybersecurity is particularly important here.
Nigeria’s digital ambition must be accompanied by a national culture of cyber resilience—from government agencies and banks to schools, businesses and individual citizens.
Digital trust is not optional. Without it, digital adoption will remain vulnerable.
Artificial Intelligence: From Consumers to Creators
Artificial intelligence presents Nigeria with another strategic opportunity.
AI could improve agricultural productivity, support medical diagnosis, personalise learning, improve public administration and help businesses operate more efficiently.
But Nigeria should not aspire merely to become a large market for foreign AI products.
It needs researchers, engineers, entrepreneurs, data professionals and institutions capable of developing solutions for Nigerian conditions.
That means investment in universities, research laboratories, computing capacity, data governance and skills.
It also means ensuring that AI is deployed responsibly, with appropriate attention to privacy, transparency, accountability and human rights.
The Nigerian State Must Become Digitally Capable
Technology cannot, however, substitute for effective governance.
Nigeria’s federal structure makes this particularly important. Digital transformation must involve the federal government, states and local governments, with institutions capable of sharing appropriate data and delivering services across different levels of government.
Digital public services should make it easier for citizens to obtain documents, access information, pay for services and interact with government.
But digitising bureaucracy without reforming bureaucracy will only produce digital bureaucracy.
The real objective should be a government that is more responsive, transparent, efficient and accountable.
Young Nigerians must also have a meaningful role in this transformation.
They are not merely beneficiaries of government programmes. They are entrepreneurs, engineers, researchers, creators and citizens whose ideas should inform the country’s future.
Sustainability Must Be Built Into the Digital Future
Nigeria’s digital transformation must also confront the country’s energy and environmental realities.
A digital economy cannot function sustainably without addressing the electricity challenge. Renewable energy, particularly distributed solar solutions, can play an important role in expanding reliable power for homes, businesses, schools and digital infrastructure.
Technology can also support smarter transport systems, better waste management, more efficient agriculture and climate-resilient urban planning.
For a country experiencing rapid urbanisation, the idea of the smart city should not remain a slogan. It should translate into safer transport, better waste systems, efficient energy use, accessible public services and more liveable communities.
What Should Independence Mean at 66?
This brings the argument back to the meaning of independence.
Political independence gave Nigeria sovereignty. The next phase must deepen that sovereignty through economic capacity, technological capability, human capital, secure institutions and sustainable development.
That is the larger significance of Professor Ademola’s thesis.
He is not arguing that technology will magically solve Nigeria’s problems. His proposition is more fundamental: technology, knowledge, human capital, cybersecurity, institutional reform and sustainability must be treated as interconnected instruments of national transformation.
Seen from Nigeria’s own experience, this is not an abstract proposition.
It is about whether the farmer can obtain useful information before planting.
Whether the student can learn without being excluded by geography or income.
Whether the small business can receive digital payments and access finance.
Whether the hospital can use technology to improve care.
Whether government services can be accessed without unnecessary bureaucracy.
Whether Nigerian creators can earn fairly from global audiences.
Whether critical national systems can withstand cyber threats.
And whether a young Nigerian with an idea can build a globally competitive enterprise without having to leave the country to find opportunity.
These are the real questions behind digital transformation.
Nigeria at 66 therefore has an opportunity to redefine the meaning of national development.
The country does not need to become another Silicon Valley, another Singapore or another digital economy built on someone else’s model.
It needs to become a more productive, more secure, more innovative and more digitally capable Nigeria.
Professor Ademola’s argument provides a framework for that ambition.
The country has the talent. It has the creativity. It has the entrepreneurial energy. What remains is to build the infrastructure, institutions, skills and policies capable of converting those assets into sustained national prosperity.
The Digital Age is not waiting for Nigeria.
It is already reshaping the country.
At 66, the task is to ensure that Nigeria does not merely consume the technologies of the new age, but develops the people, institutions and innovations capable of shaping its own future.
That is the real opportunity before Nigeria—and the real test of what independence must mean in the 21st century.
