By Ifunanya Ndigwe

Nigerian workers must learn new skills and embrace artificial intelligence or risk being left behind. This is as experts noted that “adapt or die” is now the rule across media, education, creative jobs and many other sectors.

Speaking at “Confluence: A Cross-Sector Dialogue on Digital Resilience, Privacy, Intellectual Property, and Child Online Protection” in Lagos on Tuesday, experts said those who refuse to adapt will be replaced. The Tech and Society hosted the event at CcHUB and moderated by Theresa Moses, Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Gatmash News, Chairperson of the Nigerian Online Media Alliance

Academic Relations Liaison at ISACA Abuja Chapter, Omolara Esther Hamzat, said organisations must adapt to AI responsibly or face greater risks. “We cannot run away from AI, but we must ask what problem we are solving and how we do it responsibly because of bias, data issues and cybersecurity,” Hamzat said. She warned that without reskilling plans, “we are automating jobs and displacing people, so what is our plan to reskill them?”

Senior Reporter and Acting Managing Editor at Condia, Chimgozirim Nwokoma, said media houses that fail to adapt are losing audiences. “10 years ago we went to Google for news. Today people go to TikTok, Instagram, Twitter. If media houses don’t adapt, we will die,” Nwokoma said. He disclosed that his last newsroom already uses AI for routine stories. “We had an AI journalist writing product launches. Adapt to these tools, or you become irrelevant,” he said.

Founder of Wildpepper Studios, Ifeoma “Oma” Areh, said African creatives must embrace AI early. “For the first time in Africa, we are meeting an industry at its infancy. Learn, adapt, innovate or die,” Areh said. She said her team used AI to produce a micro-drama in 4 days that hit 40 million views, proving adaptation creates new jobs.

Founder and CEO of Gradely, Boye Oshinaga, said teachers who refuse AI will be left behind as learning gaps widen. “The question is not if AI will replace teachers. The question is can a teacher who refuses to use AI to supplement their work survive when 90 per cent of African children at age 10 cannot read or do maths?” Oshinaga said.

In her closing remarks, Theresa Moses told participants that adaptation is non-negotiable. “Embrace technology. Go with the times. Keep developing yourself. AI is not taking your job. Failure to adapt is taking your job,” she said. “Whatever AI will do, you are the director. Learn, adapt, innovate and keep moving.”

The event ended with group discussions on practical steps organisations can take.