Telecom
DG NITDA Urges Young Lawyers to Use Artificial Intelligence in Legal Services
Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, director general of National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), has implored legal practitioners, particularly upcoming lawyers to adopt Artificial Intelligence (AI) in their practices in order to offer seamless and difficult-free services to clients.
Giving his remark at The Young Wigs Conference with the theme: “Techonomy: What Law School Doesn’t Teach You” organised by The Legal Concierge, in Kano, Kano State, Abdullahi said Artificial Intelligence is not here to steal peoples’ jobs, but rather an opportunity to tap in and make work easier.
Speaking on the importance of digital services, Abdullahi said, there is need to build a system with legal mind and perception, because Artificial Intelligence is taking over everything.
“We need to look at how this digital system displaces our own jobs and professions. As lawyers, most of your work is to analyse document, give advice and other things, which AI can do better than you. Now, are you going to compete with the AI, or are you going to augment on what you do?” he asked.
The NITDA boss added that this challenge can be seen as an opportunity that could be use as a source of inspiration, to think on how Artificial Intelligence can be used to help clients, and make work better.
He said, “Today in our generation, the big question is, to what extent our lives should be govern by powerful digital system and on what terms? We have social media that try to control what we see and what we do.
“We also live in an increasingly technology era wherever it is very difficult to separate your online life with offline; what happens online is almost the same to what happens offline.
“This, increasingly quantifies society whereby all what you do is captured, stored and processed by this giant tech.
“They know everything about you; they can picture you more than you can picture yourself, because they are aware of every minute of your life, and who you spend with.
“And this gave them three folds effect on us; firstly, they put constraint on whatever we do, they have their own internet regulation – this is what you can say, and this is what you cannot say.
“Secondly, they control freedom of movement with autonomous vehicle, the vehicles are programmed, and they won’t stop until they reached their destination.
“Lastly, they control our perception, whatever we are doing, we rush to Google, and Google gives personalised information. The answer they will give you, can be different from what they will another person,” he said.
He therefore noted that as learned professionals, young lawyers debate should focus more on how govern this system, “build a system with a legal mind and perception, because AI is taking over everything.”
“You can also AI for legal services because based on World Bank report, even in the US, more than 80 percent Americans do not have legal services.
The focus should be on how can we make legal services available to everyone? How can we build system with legal mind? How can we use AI in legal services to be more human centric”? the DG implored.
The Young Wigs Conference is an annual event aimed at orientating young lawyers, students of the Nigerian Law School, 4th and 5th year students of law faculties in Nigeria, and other interested persons on what to expect after school and in the course of their legal practice.
In the wake of increasing geopolitical tension, Cassava Technologies has unveiled its National Sovereign Cloud offering for African governments.
The solution, the company claims, will help the continent’s governments ensure data is kept on infrastructure that remains under local legal and operational jurisdiction.
According to the official announcement, made yesterday, the solution provides “secure, locally-governed digital infrastructure that enables the deployment of AI-enabled public services”.
The overarching solution encompasses cloud, cyber security, AI computing infrastructure, as well as local language AI models and skills support for governments.
The announcement comes amid increasing uncertainty over the hosting of sensitive national data on cloud services operated by foreign hyperscalers, which are subject to legal frameworks, such as the U.S. CLOUD Act. The CLOUD Act opens the door to allow American authorities to access data stored on the servers of US hyperscalers, wherever those servers are physically located.
Cassava has claimed separately that currently, “approximately 33% to 45% of the world’s data is hosted in the USA”.
The company added: “A sovereign cloud reduces exposure to extraterritorial laws, improves cyber resilience, and ensures that model weights and training data for public AI remain under national custody.”
The Africa Data Centres Association’s 2026 Economic Report states that “data sovereignty has evolved from a legal aspiration into a strategic policy lever”.
Ahmed El Beheiry, Group COO and Group Chief Technology and AI Officer, Cassava Technologies said: “Across Africa, governments are accelerating their digital transformation agendas and are increasingly focused on ensuring that data and digital infrastructure remain secure and sovereign.”
Announced at the Mobile Word Congress in Barcelona, this week, the Sovereign Cloud offering launch accompanied the launch of Cassava’s Cloud Partner programme.
The partner programme targets mobile network operators and system integrators across Africa to resell and distribute AI, cloud, and other digital services using Cassava’s infrastructure and technology platforms.
El Beheiry added: “We are expanding Africa’s sovereign AI ecosystem to build solutions that address the continent’s unique challenges while creating new opportunities for growth and digital inclusion.”
The programme offers partners access to NVIDIA Cloud Partner solutions, Cassava’s AI Factory, its own native AI solutions and its AI Multi-Model Exchange, which supports both Anthropic’s Claude and Google’s Gemini models.
Mazen Mroue, a non-executive director at MTN Nigeria Communications Plc, has resigned effective February 27, 2026, to prioritise other responsibilities within the MTN Group, the company announced in a Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) filing.
MTN Nigeria
The notice, signed by company secretary Uto Ukpanah, stated: “This is to enable Mr. Mroue to focus on other priorities within MTN Group Limited. The Board wishes to express its appreciation to Mr. Mroue for his immense service to MTN Nigeria and wishes him success in his future endeavours.”
Mroue joined MTN Nigeria’s board on June 1, 2022, bringing over 28 years of telecom experience. A veteran MTN executive, he previously served as CEO of MTN Uganda and MTN Liberia, non-executive director at MTN Cyprus, and held leadership roles at MTN Ghana.
Since February 2022, he has been MTN Group’s Chief Technology and Information Officer, overseeing technology strategy and governance. Earlier, as MTN Nigeria’s COO from August 2018 to January 2022, he also sat on the MTN Nigeria Foundation board.
The exit follows MTN Nigeria’s stellar 2025 results, posting a ₦1.70 trillion profit before tax—reversing a ₦550.3 billion loss in 2024 driven by forex woes—marking one of the telco’s strongest rebounds.
Google has rolled out support for Yorùbá and Hausa languages in its AI-powered Search features—AI Overviews and AI Mode—enabling millions of Nigerians to get quick answers, summaries, and conversational web exploration in their mother tongues.
The update forms part of Google’s push to cover 13 African languages, including Afrikaans, Akan, Amharic, Kinyarwanda, Afaan Oromoo, Somali, Sesotho, Kiswahili, Setswana, Wolof, and isiZulu, selected based on high search activity across the continent.
Now, a Kano student can ask complex questions in Hausa, while an Ibadan trader seeks business tips in Yorùbá—both receiving culturally nuanced AI responses via text or voice on Android, iOS, or web.
Taiwo Kola-Ogunlade, Google’s West Africa Communications Manager, said: “Building truly global Search requires nuanced local understanding. With Gemini-powered AI, we’ve made advanced capabilities relevant in Yorùbá and Hausa, so Nigerians converse naturally with Search in their mother tongues.”
To use: Open the Google app, tap AI Mode, and query in Hausa or Yorùbá for personalised guidance—breaking language barriers and making technology reflect Nigeria’s diverse identity.
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