By JESSICA DOGO

The Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy; Meta, the National Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (NCAIR), and local developers have partnered with Publica Artificial Intelligence (AI) to unveil GovGuide Nigeria.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the AI-powered chatbot is designed to improve access to government services.

Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Bosun Tijani, at the inauguration on Thursday in Abuja lauded the initiative.

Tijani said that the initiative reflected the Federal Government’s commitment to leveraging AI to improve public service delivery.

The minister explained that deploying AI-powered tools in local languages and on platforms already familiar to citizens would enhance accessibility, transparency and citizen engagement.

“The GovGuide initiative reflects our commitment to leveraging artificial intelligence to make government services and information more accessible and responsive to the needs of Nigerians.

“By deploying AI-powered tools in local languages and on platforms people already use daily, we are improving access to public services and also strengthening transparency, trust, and citizen engagement.

“As Nigeria continues to grow its digital economy, partnerships like this demonstrate how innovation can improve productivity, unlock opportunities, and bring government closer to the people,” he said.

NAN reports that the chatbot, developed, is designed to provide Nigerians with seamless access to information on government services through voice and text interactions.

Head of Public Policy at Meta, Sade Dada, described open-source AI as critical to economic growth and productivity.

Dada said GovGuide Nigeria demonstrated how open-source AI could support local innovation and improve access to public information.

“Built by Publica AI on our open-source models, GovGuide Nigeria is a voice and text AI assistant in English, Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba that gives every Nigerian, including rural and low-literacy users, easier access to information on government services.”

She added that the project showed how open-source AI could enable homegrown innovation, support local talent and provide practical solutions for citizens.

Earlier, the Chief Executive Officer of Publica AI, Ignatius Willie, said the inauguration represented a major step towards democratising citizens’ engagement with government.

According to Willie, GovGuide Nigeria is designed to make government services conversational, multilingual and accessible through channels already widely used by Nigerians.

He said that it was built in partnership with the Communications Ministry, and NCAIR, powered by Meta’s open-source models, and shaped by hundreds of Nigerian language contributors.

”GovGuide Nigeria is proof that the next generation of public infrastructure for Africa can, and should be built in Africa, in our own languages,” Willie said(NAN)