Nigerians are increasingly receptive to artificial intelligence, even as adoption and satisfaction with government digital services remain lower, according to the 2026 Digital Government Citizen Survey by Boston Consulting Group (BCG).
Nigeria recorded the highest AI comfort level among countries featured in the survey, at 85%, while 61% of respondents said AI benefits outweigh its risks.
Government digital service adoption, however, stood at 50%, with overall satisfaction at 48%. The figures point to a widening gap between Nigerians’ readiness for AI and their experience with government’s digital platforms, as citizens increasingly expect public services to match the convenience of leading private-sector digital services.
Globally, 64% of citizens now use AI tools at least weekly, up 26 percentage points from 2024, while 70% hold a neutral-to-positive view of the technology.
BCG found that nearly three-quarters of respondents expect government online services to perform at the level of leading private-sector services, raising pressure on governments to improve digital delivery.
The report also shows strong public acceptance of practical government AI applications. Sixty-six per cent of respondents are comfortable with AI-powered 24-hour access to government information and services, while 63% support its use in fraud detection and 60% are comfortable with AI identifying services citizens qualify for and acting on their behalf.
BCG, however, cautioned that governments should not simply add AI to weak digital systems, recommending that services be redesigned where necessary before or alongside AI deployment.
Trust remains another constraint as 85% per cent of citizens globally want human involvement in AI-enabled government transactions, while only 22% support fully autonomous AI service delivery.
The report further shows that job losses remain the leading concern, cited by 32% of respondents, followed by accuracy of AI results at 30%.
BCG noted that job-loss concerns are particularly high in the Middle East and Africa, where Nigeria is classified.
For Nigeria, the findings suggest that citizen readiness may no longer be the major barrier to government AI adoption as the bigger challenge is whether public institutions can translate that readiness into reliable, accessible and trusted digital services.
