How AI can support students’ mental health in Nigeria’s higher education system
By Precious Obi
As Nigerian universities grapple with overcrowded campuses, limited counselling services and rising student stress, conversations around mental health in higher education are gaining urgency.
Academic pressure, economic hardship, insecurity, unemployment anxiety and social expectations are taking a toll on students’ emotional well-being. Yet access to mental health care remains severely constrained, with most public universities operating without adequately staffed counselling centres.
In this context, artificial intelligence (AI), when paired with trained professionals, presents an emerging opportunity to bridge gaps in student mental health support not as a replacement for human care, but as a complementary tool.
Recent global studies show that while awareness of campus mental health services is increasing, access remains a challenge. This mirrors the Nigerian experience, where stigma, lack of information, high student-to-counsellor ratios and poor funding limit uptake. Many students who struggle never seek help until their academic performance or personal lives deteriorate significantly.
Nigeria’s mental health workforce shortage is acute. According to the World Health Organization, the country has fewer than 300 psychiatrists serving a population of over 200 million. University counselling units, where they exist at all, are often understaffed, under-resourced and overwhelmed. This is where AI-enabled tools could help ease pressure on already stretched systems.
AI applications can support early identification of at-risk students by analysing non-sensitive, consent-based data such as academic engagement patterns, course withdrawals, attendance records or frequent deferment requests. Used ethically, such tools can help institutions flag students who may need outreach before a crisis develops particularly those unlikely to seek help due to stigma or financial constraints.
In Nigeria, where many students balance school with work, family responsibilities and unstable living conditions, early intervention is critical. AI-powered systems could help counselling units prioritise cases, manage appointment scheduling and identify trends affecting specific student populations, such as first-generation students or those from conflict-affected regions.
Beyond detection, AI-driven chatbots can provide immediate, low-barrier support by answering basic questions about mental health services, coping strategies and referral pathways. For students in institutions where counselling offices are physically distant, poorly advertised or intimidating, anonymous digital entry points may encourage first contact. This is particularly relevant in a society where mental health challenges are still widely misunderstood or spiritualised.
However, experts caution that AI must not be mistaken for therapy. Current AI systems lack emotional nuance, contextual understanding and cultural sensitivity — all of which are essential in mental health care. In Nigeria’s diverse socio-cultural landscape, human judgement remains irreplaceable. AI tools may misinterpret language, validate harmful beliefs or fail to detect subtle distress cues common in local expressions.
The real value lies in pairing AI with trained professionals and peer-support systems. AI can help train peer counsellors, student volunteers and non-specialist staff by offering structured guidance, screening tools and referral prompts. This task-shifting approach is particularly relevant in Nigerian universities, where professional mental health staff are few.
AI can also help institutions streamline administrative workloads, freeing counsellors to focus on direct care. Automating appointment triage, documentation and follow-ups could significantly improve efficiency, especially in public universities with tens of thousands of students.
For AI-driven mental health tools to succeed in Nigeria, trust and accessibility are essential. Institutions must ensure data privacy, transparency and ethical safeguards, especially given students’ concerns about surveillance and misuse of personal information. Equally important is integration, mental health tools should be embedded into platforms students already use, such as learning management systems, student portals or mobile apps, rather than scattered across multiple websites.
Mental health literacy must also improve. Without intentional awareness campaigns, students may ignore available tools or misuse them. Universities, policymakers and edtech providers must invest in digital and mental health education to ensure students understand both the benefits and limitations of AI-supported care.
As Nigeria pushes forward with digital transformation in education, AI offers a pragmatic opportunity to expand mental health support in resource-constrained settings. When deployed responsibly, culturally, sensitively and alongside human expertise, it can help institutions move from reactive crisis management to proactive student well-being, a shift that is urgently needed if higher education is to truly support the next generation of Nigerian leaders.
- Precious Ebere-Chinonso Obi, CEO of Do Take Action and independent consultant on edtech, climate change, public policy, and women’s procurement empowerment, writes from Abuja.
