Nigeria’s educational threshold should be beyond Akara and Kulikuli  — Seyi Awolowo

Former Big Brother Naija housemate, Seyi Awolowo, has said Nigeria’s educational aspirations should have progressed beyond what he described as the “Akara and Kulikuli” stage, urging the country to focus on innovation and artificial intelligence instead of survival-driven thinking.

Awolowo, while appearing on Vanguard’s Nigeria Meter Podcast, said the world is rapidly advancing in artificial intelligence, with countries such as China and the United States competing for global leadership, while Nigeria has yet to establish its place in the innovation race.

According to him, businesses such as selling akara and kulikuli were once associated with petty traders, but the country’s educational and economic development should have created greater opportunities for people to aspire beyond them.

“KuliKuli and Akara, while I was growing up, were businesses for petty traders. There should have been an upgrade,” he said.

Awolowo questioned why Nigeria is still preoccupied with issues of basic survival at a time when other nations are investing heavily in cutting-edge technology.

“We are entering the AI race right now, where we are seeing the way China and America are going back to back with innovation. Where is our own? Why are we thinking of Akara and KuliKuli?”

He argued that the country’s educational system should have reached a point where citizens are encouraged to think beyond subsistence-level ambitions and compete in knowledge-driven industries.

“Why have we not crossed an educational threshold where KuliKuli and Akara are still in the frame? Why does it seem that some people are being kept in a box where they cannot grow further than that because of what they think or see?”

Awolowo also linked the issue to Nigeria’s political culture, saying politicians often appeal to voters through food and other material incentives instead of presenting ideas that promote education, innovation and long-term economic growth.

According to him, this dependence on “stomach infrastructure” has become a dominant feature of electioneering in the country.

“So, when it is now election season, they think of how to give people this or that because they are the ones that would come to vote. It seems that stomach infrastructure is the major means of campaign,” he said.

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