AI: Lagos Civil Servants Get 90 Days To Deliver Results

BY ABIODUN SIVOWAKU and SAMUEL TYOTSUA, Lagos

Lagos State civil servants have been given 90 days to demonstrate how artificial intelligence (AI) can be applied to improve government processes and public service delivery, following a two-day training on emerging technologies and governance.

The challenge requires participants from various ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) to develop and implement at least one AI or technology-enabled project capable of addressing a specific problem within their areas of responsibility.

Deputy vice-chancellor, Research, Innovation and Enterprise, University of Kigali, Rwanda, Prof. Ogechi Adeola, said the objective was to move beyond discussions about AI to measurable changes in the way government operates.

Adeola said participants were expected to leave the programme with a 90-day implementation plan containing one action and one project that could improve the performance of their respective MDAs.

She said the real measure of the exercise would be whether participants could implement a technology-enabled solution within the period and demonstrate how it improved services or addressed a problem affecting citizens.

According to her, AI has the potential to support more efficient government systems and provide new approaches to some of the challenges confronting public administration.

Similarly, Professor of Organisational Behaviour, Human Resource Management and Business Strategy, University of Lagos, Prof. Olusoji George, said the focus of the practical sessions was to help civil servants understand how AI could be incorporated into their work rather than treating it as a purely theoretical subject.

George said the objective was to make public servants “technologically savvy” enough to understand both the opportunities and challenges associated with emerging technologies.

He said the participants would be assessed after about 90 days to determine how the knowledge acquired had been applied, its effect on productivity and whether the skills had been transferred to other workers within their MDAs.

Professor of Artificial Intelligence and Natural Language Processing, University of Lagos, Prof. Victor Odumuyiwa said government needed sufficient understanding of AI among its workforce to properly assess the technology and determine its impact on productivity.

Odumuyiwa urged civil servants to deploy AI responsibly, stressing that users must remain in control of decisions made with the technology.

He said AI could reduce the time spent on repetitive administrative tasks while allowing public servants to concentrate on more complex responsibilities and develop solutions that make government services easier for citizens to access.

Odumuyiwa further noted that AI-enabled platforms could potentially allow citizens to obtain government information and access some public services in local languages without necessarily visiting government offices.

Dr Luqman Afolabi, Senior Lecturer, School of Graduate Studies, University of Kigali, Rwanda, said the practical sessions exposed participants to AI tools, including Gemini, Claude and other chatbots, with emphasis on effective prompting and responsible use.

Afolabi said AI could help reduce time and operational costs while improving efficiency in public service, but cautioned against viewing the technology simply as a means of replacing workers.

He said the more immediate value of AI was its ability to support workers in carrying out routine and time-consuming tasks more efficiently.

The 90-day implementation target now places emphasis on whether the knowledge acquired by the civil servants will translate into measurable improvements in government operations and services to citizens.