The Federal Government, in partnership with Meta, has unveiled GovGuide Nigeria, a multilingual artificial intelligence-powered chatbot designed to improve access to government information and services across the country.
The platform was launched on Thursday during the unveiling of Meta’s Economic Impact Report in Nigeria, in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, the National Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (NCAIR), and local technology firm, Publica AI.
Officials said the initiative is aimed at strengthening digital governance and making public services more accessible, transparent, and user-friendly for citizens across different regions and literacy levels.
GovGuide Nigeria operates as a voice and text-based AI assistant accessible via WhatsApp and web platforms. It supports English, Hausa, Igbo, and Yoruba, allowing users to interact with government services in their preferred language.
The platform provides access to information across more than 35 federal ministries and over 60 government agencies, helping to bridge long-standing communication and information gaps between government institutions and citizens.
Speaking at the unveiling, Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Dr Bosun Tijani, said the project reflects the government’s commitment to using technology to improve service delivery and citizen engagement.
He said the deployment of artificial intelligence in local languages would significantly expand access to public services, particularly for underserved and low-literacy communities across the country.
“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,” Tijani said.
Head of Public Policy at Meta, Sade Dada, described the initiative as an example of how open-source artificial intelligence can support economic growth and social development in Africa, noting that the platform was built using Meta’s open-source AI models.
Chief Executive Officer of Publica AI, Ignatius Willie, said GovGuide Nigeria was designed to transform how citizens interact with government institutions by making access more conversational, multilingual, and accessible through platforms Nigerians already use daily.
