CITAD urges gender, climate justice approach to Nigeria’s AI strategy –
Kola Oyelere Kano
The Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) has called on the federal government to integrate feminist and climate justice perspectives into Nigeria’s artificial intelligence (AI) strategy.
CITAD noted that “Artificial Intelligence (AI) is transforming societies at unprecedented speed, but its growth raises urgent concerns about fairness in the aspects of gender, environmental and climate justice, inclusivity, and sustainability issues.
Speaking at a press briefing at CITAD office, in Kano, on Friday, Fatima Babakura, Project Lead at CITAD, warned that Nigeria’s AI policies risk entrenching inequality and environmental harm if gender and sustainability concerns are ignored.
“In Nigeria, while Al is recognized as a key driver of digital transformation, there is limited debate on how it intersects with gender equality and climate justice”,she said
Babakura stressed that Nigeria has an opportunity to build an inclusive and sustainable AI future if it acts now. “AI should serve the public good, protect the planet, and amplify the voices of those most affected”, she said.
Technology is never neutral. The way Al is built and deployed will shape Nigeria’s future. If we ignore gender balance and climate justice, Al will deepen inequality and environmental harm. But if we act now, Nigeria can build an inclusive, fair, and sustainable digital future.
“Algorithmic bias subjects women to stereotypes, facial recognition misidentifies women of colour, and language models reinforce harmful gender norms,” Babakura said.
On the environmental front, she cautioned that training large AI models consumes massive energy and generates e-waste, contributing to greenhouse emissions. “Many so-called green innovations risk reinforcing unsustainable systems,” she added.
CITAD further observed that AI-driven climate solutions often exclude rural small holder farmers—most of them women—because of poor internet access, literacy gaps, and weak infrastructure, thereby widening inequality.
The organisation proposed five key measures: inclusion of women and marginalised groups in AI governance, data justice and sovereignty, transparency in AI systems, localised strategies tailored to Nigeria, and recognition that technology is never neutral.
“This further exposes the myth that Al is neutral.In reality, Al reflects the biases of its creators and brings out its shortcomings of treating issues from certain perspective, neglecting others. We believe all these have negative impacts not only gender, but on climate justice and digital inclusion.”
She stated that ” On the environmental impact of Al, training large Al models consumes massive energy and resources, leading to greenhouse gas emissions, electronic waste, and environmental degradation.
While Al is promoted as a climate solution, many “green” innovations fail to address root causes and risk reinforcing unsustainable systems.
“Al-driven climate solutions often exclude the very communities most affected, as precision agriculture tools tend to benefit large industrial farms, while rural small holder farmers,many of them women,are left behind due to the lack of access to the internet, literacy, and infrastructure. “She stated
This deepens inequality and excludes the communities most in need.she noted
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