There was a time when asking a question in a Nigerian home could send a child from one room to another.
“Go and ask your mother.”
“Ask your father.”
“If you don’t know, go and ask your teacher.”
And if the question was about a place, the answer was often simple , ask somebody on the road.
That was how information travelled.
Before smartphones, Google and social media became part of everyday life, Nigerians depended heavily on people around them for answers. Parents, grandparents, teachers, neighbours and friends were often the first people to turn to.
If you wanted to know how to cook something, you asked someone who knew how to cook it. If you needed directions, you asked someone familiar with the area. If a student needed information for an assignment, the library, textbooks and teachers were among the first options.
Then the internet arrived and slowly changed the habit.
When the internet became the new library
As more Nigerians gained access to the internet, finding information became easier.
Instead of spending hours looking through books, people could search online.
A student could type a question into a search engine. Someone learning how to repair something could find a tutorial. A person looking for the meaning of a word could get an answer within seconds.
The change became even more noticeable when smartphones became common.
Information was no longer something people had to go somewhere to find.
It was now in their pockets.
“Ask Google”
Today, “Ask Google” has become almost as familiar as “go and ask.”
Need directions? Search it.
Don’t know what a word means? Search it.
Looking for a recipe? Search it.
Want to know when a football match starts? Search it.
Need information about a person, place or event? Search it.
For many young Nigerians, reaching for a phone has become the first response to a question.
Social media changed things again
The search for information has also moved beyond traditional search engines.
Nigerians now get information from WhatsApp, Facebook, X, TikTok, YouTube and other platforms.
A person may wake up and learn about an event through a WhatsApp message or see a video explaining something before they have even searched for it.
This has made information faster to access, but it has also created another problem.
Not everything shared online is true.
A viral post can reach thousands of people before anyone checks whether the information is accurate.
So, while finding information has become easier, knowing what to believe has become more important.
Now, Nigerians are asking AI
The latest change is artificial intelligence.
Instead of searching with a few words and opening different websites, people can now ask AI tools questions almost as if they were speaking to another person.
Students use AI to explain difficult topics. Workers use it to brainstorm ideas. Business owners use it to help with tasks, while creatives use it for writing, images and other projects.
It is another major shift in how people look for answers.
From people to phones
The difference between then and now is striking.
A child who once had to ask an elder can now search for the answer on a phone.
A student who once depended entirely on textbooks can access information from around the world.
Someone who once had to ask for directions can now follow a map on a screen.
The technology has changed, but the curiosity has not.
Nigerians are still asking the same basic question:
“How do I know?”
The difference is where they look for the answer.
At 66, Nigeria has moved from “Go and ask” to “Ask Google” and increasingly, “Ask AI.”