“Algorithms, not pipelines, will determine prosperity,” Chidoka warned as he urged Nigeria to embrace data and scientific discipline.
Former Minister of Aviation and Chancellor of the Athena Centre, Chief Osita Chidoka, has said Nigeria’s next era of prosperity will be driven by data and scientific knowledge rather than crude oil. Chidoka made the remark on Tuesday, November 11, while delivering the keynote address at the 3rd International Hybrid Conference of the Faculty of Physical Sciences, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka.
In a statement by his media aide, Ikechukwu Okafor, Chidoka argued that data has overtaken crude oil as the world’s most valuable asset, noting that global competitiveness is now shaped by scientific thinking. Citing his reforms at the FRSC, he said nations fail not from lack of resources but when they “do not measure, monitor, and manage those resources scientifically.”
He warned that in the Age of Artificial Intelligence, “algorithms, not pipelines, will determine prosperity.” Chidoka urged policymakers to adopt the M²I model and stressed that universities will determine Africa’s competitiveness.