Are Nigerian Universities Equipped to Lead the Security Tech Revolution?

President Bola Tinubu’s recent challenge to Nigerian universities to rise to the occasion and develop homegrown technology-driven security solutions has reopened an age-old question: are our universities truly equipped for such a task?
At the combined convocation of Joseph Sarwuan Tarka University, Makurdi, Tinubu, represented by the Vice Chancellor of the University of Jos, Prof. Tanko Ishaya, charged Nigerian academia to pivot towards producing tools such as drones and smart surveillance systems to help combat the country’s deepening insecurity.
But while the president’s charge is timely and visionary, experts say it reveals a mismatch between expectation and the current state of tertiary education.
Across the country, many public universities lack basic laboratory equipment, stable electricity, high-speed internet, or functional innovation hubs. A 2023 audit by BudgIT showed that over 60% of science and technology labs in federal universities were either obsolete or under-equipped. While isolated institutions like Covenant University, FUTA, and Ahmadu Bello University have made some strides in robotics and drone technology, such efforts are largely unsupported, unsustained, and unscaled.
“Curriculum in most institutions is outdated. We are not even teaching students how to code or use AI tools effectively,” said Dr. Tomi Adewale, a cybersecurity lecturer at a federal university in the South-West. “Yet, we expect them to build surveillance systems?”
The challenge also extends to the quality of teaching. Years of brain drain, poor funding, and lack of capacity-building have left many departments with underqualified or demotivated lecturers. According to the National Universities Commission (NUC), over 30% of teaching staff in science and engineering faculties lack PhDs — a problem worsened by ongoing ASUU strikes and poor lecturer remuneration.
In terms of partnerships, Nigerian universities lag behind counterparts in Kenya, Rwanda, and even Ghana, where collaborations with global tech firms like IBM, Microsoft, and Huawei have birthed joint innovation labs and funded tech-driven security projects.
That said, the president’s challenge does not fall entirely on deaf ears. Some institutions are slowly embracing collaboration. UNILAG’s recent partnership with the Nigerian Communications Commission to establish a digital research lab is one such step. The newly introduced National Artificial Intelligence Strategy by NITDA also holds promise for academia-industry alignment.
Still, the road ahead is long. Without urgent investment in labs, teacher training, curriculum overhaul, and public-private partnerships, Nigeria’s dream of using its ivory towers to combat insecurity may remain just that — a dream.
Until then, the revolution may be delayed.