When Seeing Is No Longer Believing: Rethinking Artificial Intelligence Regulation in Nigeria

When Seeing Is No Longer Believing: Rethinking Artificial Intelligence Regulation in Nigeria explores one of the most urgent questions of our time: what happens when we can no longer trust what we see, hear or consume online?

Artificial intelligence is rapidly changing how we create, communicate, work and make decisions. From deepfakes and AI-generated images to automated systems capable of influencing lives, businesses and public institutions, the line between what is real and what is artificially created is becoming increasingly difficult to recognize.

But as AI develops faster than the laws designed to govern society, Nigeria faces an important challenge: Are our existing laws and regulatory frameworks prepared for the realities of artificial intelligence?

This book examines the emerging risks of AI, the growing challenge of deepfakes and misinformation, questions of accountability and liability, data protection, intellectual property, bias and discrimination, and the need for a more deliberate approach to AI governance in Nigeria.

Rather than simply asking whether Nigeria needs an AI law, the book invites lawyers, policymakers, regulators, businesses, technology professionals and everyday citizens to rethink how law and regulation should respond to a future that is already here.

When Seeing Is No Longer Believing is a timely contribution to the conversation on artificial intelligence, law and governance in Nigeria, and a call to begin building the legal frameworks needed for the age ahead.