As digital transformation engulfs nations, its potentials for unlocking prosperity with real time data driven intelligence remains unmatched. Artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain hold great promises for governments to drive inclusive led economic growth and development for the benefits of their citizenry, security against internal and external threats, having a healthy workforce, building an educated populace, anchoring food security, and broad sustainable environment.

Different countries are investing in various capacities and deepening their capabilities in AI and block to fix different paralyses they are confronted with. The two major powers United States and China currently lead in these efforts while other countries in the Western hemisphere, East Asia and SouthEast Asia are not left out in the race for new intelligence.

I propose a roadmap for nations across the world to build intelligent economies leveraging these exponential technologies.

Human Capital Development for the Intelligent Economy: Every nation should invest a significant amount of her national budget on training her citizens in artificial intelligence, blockchain, critical thinking, product development, and emotional intelligence. With a large talent pool in these skills, they will develop AI and blockchain enabled solutions for different frictions. Their citizens could also become outsourced to create intelligent products for other nations earning massive revenue from that.

Acquisition and Development of Infrastructure For the Intelligent Economy: Hardware to power the intelligent economy such as deployment of drones, robotics, and sensors for real time analytics across different verticals such as agricultural farmlands, natural resources extraction fields, roads and public parking spaces, land borders, airports and seaports, facial recognition and identification cameras. Also, data centers for local hosting of their data and software like satellite imaging data; intelligent cloud platforms should be developed which will integrate artificial intelligence and blockchain for governments to offer smart services as important enablers.

Integration of Chief Data Scientist and Chief Decentralized Officer into Economic Management Teams: The Chief Data Scientist of the nation, at regional or state level, is responsible for aggregating various data through artificial intelligence to offer unbiased insight analytics which will support progressive economic decisions to be taken by the government, while the Chief Decentralized Officer will be responsible for creation of blockchain solutions to support the intelligent economy, and as such, their roles are very important.

Industry Adoption by Governments

Mapping For Social Investment Programmes: Artificial Intelligence can aid in citizen mapping with the aid of geospatial technologies for governments to have real time data on the economically disadvantaged citizens so that their social investment programmes will be more meaningful while the integration of the blockchain will monitor the process to ensure it is transparent and secured, limiting corruption with automation.

Healthcare: Intelligent Electronic Medical Record powered by artificial intelligence and secured on the blockchain which will contain the data of all patients in the country, and can be updated real time by only doctors permitted by their medical association, to carry out their services such as records sharing, prescription sharing to their colleagues and personalized treatment to patients on the network.

Food Security: Artificial Intelligence will help nations in predicting farming outcomes based on real time geolocation data, and the prices of basic agricultural commodities which are consumed and marketed by marketing boards, while blockchain can be integrated to track from the smart farming process to the final consumer in the agribusiness value chain.

Education: With millions of people without access to quality education across the world, governments can invest in AI tutors to educate their citizens using familiar languages in skills and courses which will make them globally competitive while those who are beneficiaries of this initiative can be embedded into a blockchain network to monitor their learning outcomes.

Licensing and Identification: With artificial intelligence enabled real time identification of citizens and their property, the blockchain can aggregate this data and create a distributed digital secure record.

Infrastructure Development: Artificial Intelligence through image and object recognition can engage in predictive maintenance of infrastructure while blockchain can be used in tracking the reconstruction process.

Security: Artificial Intelligence can be utilized by internal security operatives to predict possible crime scenes and those with propensity to commit crimes and give real time feeds autonomously while the blockchain can be used to register and track illegal migrants into any country and renewal of passports and visas to citizens and foreigners. The defense forces can use AI in identifying terrorist threats and autonomously nullifying them while utilizing blockchain for monitoring their armament supply chain.

Somebody tell me; Oh why do we fight it

One love can set us free; if we just let it be

Take heart in a brand new day

Cause love is all we need; To chase the past away

You never need worry; if you just let it be…You never need worry, no no

Let one love set you free!

Onyeka Onwenu (Lyrics ‘One love’)

It would be needless to say the legend, Onyeka Onwenu, was unaware of the overbearing tribe crisis when she sang this song with her delightful voice. So, I would subject to the prevailing thoughts in the hearts of every creative artiste – Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything (Plato).

She possibly wrote her simple lyrics with 1966 Biafra and Nigeria’s bloodshed in mind. She probably knelt by her bed with the candles of the night to scribble a song that she desired will soar in the hearts of coming years in Nigeria for positive change.

The plight of our nation’s state of viewing our differences has grown largely into many unforeseen circumstances unimaginable by many Nigerians. We have deeply instilled the culture of “My Culture and Me.” Our hearts have gradually soiled the grounds of inhumane blood and insensitivity to a fellow Nigerian. Everything, including success and goodwill have become a question of “Where is she from? Yoruba? Hausa? Igbo?” And like Ibukun Awosika angrily professed at The Platform 2018, October 1st that such questions are inconsequential to the existence of their being as Nigerians – “Where is he from? He is a Nigerian!”.

Last month, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) made a show of our thirst for survival and success. Out of 200 million people in the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 77, if I am not mistaken, were indicted for cyber fraud. Aside from this, a notable Nigerian youth made more prominent by Forbes magazine, Obiwanne Okeke, was arrested for over One Million Dollars fraud. The events recurring too timely with the comments the sleek singing artiste, Simi, made outrightly to cyber fraudsters, popularly called Yahoo Boys. In a bid to make the saddening effect of cyber fraud on Nigerian’s reputation known, she said;

“They are laughing at us. They are laughing at us. I am repeating it because I have seen it. Do you know how many Nigerians going to business meetings or just to get the smallest opportunity for themselves to make it and they leave with nothing because they are Nigerian, that’s the only excuse they get. Sorry, we can not work with Nigerians.”

Nigerians had several views about her opinions, mostly finding it offensive to their ‘hustle’.

Our linens were washed in public with the aforementioned. By all means, as most Nigerians felt, I felt largely displeased but beyond my displeasure came the public neglect of these Nigerians away from home. Then the adage our ancestors professed in Igbo to our youthful hearing recalls, “O bu a nwe ozu na ebu ya nisi” – it is he who owns the corpse who carries it at the head.

I wouldn’t dispute their negligence in character and self-hood, but I would also say like our ancestors, “Ti a ba fi owo otun ba omo wi, afi ti owo osi famora” – When you rebuke a child for his act, you don’t cast him away. Besides, “Ile eni lati n je ekute oni dodo” – We don’t reveal our family secrets.

During this pressing period for Nigeria, displeased Nigerians went beyond castigating these indicted fellows to tribalistic claims. Certain social media influencers made insignificant cognizance to the names of the indicted Nigerians, claiming they are Igbos. Without any contradictions, in fact most certainly, they are indeed of the Igbo ancestry and lineage but that does not reduce them from being any less of a Nigerian than you are.

Today, a tabloid noted Allen Onyeama’s profound statement pertaining to the issue of diversity and Nigeria;

“Nigeria is a country of 378 ethnic nationalities; that means we have a huge diversity. This diversity is supposed to be our strength but it has become an albatross of a kind to us. Why can’t we manage our diversity for the good and development of our nation.”

Few days back, a friend once noted the shallow state of our diversity. He said: “You see Tobi, it is not that Nigeria cannot exist as one. It is just the state of our minds to think one tribe owns this and the other that. Igbos will say oil, Hausas will say food and Yoruba will say commerce.” So, it dawned pathetically on me, it’s a situation of entitlements and ownership. If we could only live to believe that we all own it all.

A lady, Miss Tinuke said something to me that made me shake my head horridly. To paraphrase her words, she said that only Lagos and Abuja can get to this point of commercialization in Nigeria. She made it clear when I told her I am from Lagos. She said that Lagos is tolerant to have indigenous occupants unlike other states. Then I asked a cogent question; “Can’t any other state be like these two states?” She replied that other states are busy guiding their land with selfish motives and entitlements. They can never allow a Hausa man graze neither can a Hausa man allow them trade peacefully. In causal terms, she noted that other states can’t meet Lagos. They seem to be backward with their ideologies and belief systems.

Hence my thoughts, can we allow our Yoruba daughter say she would love to marry our Hausa son? Can we allow our Igbo son say he would be marrying our Fulani daughter? Can we let go of our vague inter-tribal differences and embrace oneness in our Nation to attain a greater good. The horror that continually grows within us stems from our diversities and the inability to curb the negative extensions within the gates of our hearts.

Allen Onyeama, Chairman of Air Peace Airlines became my hero with his gracious action to bring home every NIGERIAN affected in South Africa without considering the tribe or lineage. The news is He is a Nigerian and he saved Nigerians.

So, when we intend to wash our dirty linen in public and battle within us, let’s remember what our fathers said: Yawa shi kan sa zarre ya ja duchi (quantity makes the cotton draw a stone) – UNITY IS STRENGTH.

God bless Nigeria.

God bless You.