Nigeria’s First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, delivered a powerful caution to global leaders at the 12th World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE) in Doha, declaring that humanity, not technology, must forever remain at the heart of innovation.
Speaking at the high-profile “Education Above All” plenary session alongside counterparts from Lebanon and Syria, Senator Tinubu stressed that while digital tools bring unprecedented speed and reach, they risk hollowing out progress if human values are sidelined.
“We should be the drivers of technology. Technology must lead; we should not remove human values from technology,” she told the packed auditorium. “Everything begins with education. We are doing all we can as a government to advance the education sector because Nigeria has a huge human capital resource – and that is what we thrive on.”
She highlighted Qatar’s remarkable achievements in education and reaffirmed President Bola Tinubu’s commitment to ensuring every Nigerian child, regardless of faith or background, has access to quality schooling. “No religion forbids girls from receiving an education,” she said, earning sustained applause.
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Echoing the summit’s theme “Humanity.IO: Human Values at the Heart of Education,” the First Lady celebrated the global impact of Nigerian youth in arts, fashion, film, agriculture, and education, adding: “We believe we will keep empowering the young ones in this area and they will do better.”
Qatar Foundation Chairperson Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, host of the summit, told delegates that education must transform lives and equip young people with skills for emerging jobs, while more than 150,000 participants worldwide heard repeated warnings that artificial intelligence and rapid tech adoption are meaningless without ethics and humanity at their core.
The three-day WISE Summit, one of the world’s largest gatherings on education innovation, continues in Doha with Nigeria’s delegation actively shaping conversations on balancing technological advancement with inclusive, values-driven learning.
