Artificial Intelligence Surveillance in Nigeria: Finding the Sweet Spot between National Security, Data Protection and Digital Rights.

Abstract

This paper examines the deployment of AI-powered surveillance in Nigeria, focusing on the need to balance national security with digital rights and data protection. It explores the existing legal and regulatory frameworks governing surveillance technologies, assesses their implications for individual rights, and identifies challenges and opportunities for achieving a balanced approach. Using a doctrinal method, the paper analyses Nigerian laws, policies, and regulations relating to surveillance, data protection, and digital rights, while drawing on international human rights instruments and best practices in AI-powered surveillance. The study reveals that Nigeria’s regulatory framework is inadequate and fragmented, leaving significant gaps in the protection of citizens’ digital rights and personal data. It further observes that the increasing use of AI-powered technologies enables extensive surveillance of citizens, posing serious risks to freedoms of expression, association, and assembly. The paper identifies challenges such as lack of transparency and accountability in surveillance operations, weak data protection mechanisms, and low public awareness of digital rights. It recommends the enactment of comprehensive legislation on AI-powered surveillance and data protection, the establishment of an independent oversight body to ensure accountability, and emphasises the need for enhanced citizen education and Institutional capacity-building for effective rights protection.