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By Dr. Samson Abanni

Would the US really go to war over Taiwan if push comes to shove? I believe so. Here’s why. Countries don’t make decisions for purely altruistic reasons.

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AI is the future of everything: war, education, technology, research, and more. For example, Israel is currently utilizing AI to identify and target Hamas. AI is already being used to read minds and to create materials unknown to man. The materials AI has identified in weeks would have taken human scientists 400 years to discover.

The latest advancements in AI are primarily enabled by cutting-edge GPUs, CPUs, accelerators, and other powerful chips. In the AI space, major companies like Google, Microsoft, Meta, and Amazon are rivals, yet all depend on hardware (GPUs, CPUs, Accelerators, etc.) made by one firm in Taiwan. China, still behind in AI, has been blocked by the US from accessing the advanced AI hardware available to US companies, all made in Taiwan. This hardware is produced by a single company: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC). No other country in the world possesses the capability to manufacture these chips. Taiwan literally holds the future.

While it’s debatable how long this will remain true, it’s remarkable how Taiwan, once a third-world country in the 60s, mastered a technology from the 70s to the point of being unrivaled globally.

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The US-Taiwan relationship has evolved from a donor-recipient dynamic to a strategic partnership, focusing on shared security and economic prosperity interests.

As AI is being born before our eyes, Nigeria can learn from Taiwan and develop citizens skilled in new technologies. Respect among nations isn’t earned through talk, but by becoming indispensable in strategic areas.

The technology that limited Huawei’s growth, denied by the US, was made in Taiwan. The US’s close ties to Israel aren’t based on affection; they rely heavily on Israeli military technology to stay ahead. Many top US companies, including Mastercard, Apple, Google, Microsoft, Facebook, Intel, Pfizer, and Amazon, depend on Israel for R&D. Hence, when the US sends F-35s to protect Israeli skies, it aligns with their interests.

Geopolitics is fundamentally a game of technology, driven by the intellectual prowess of a nation’s people. Oil isn’t the world’s primary driver; the world would rapidly develop alternatives if oil reserves dried up.

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Taiwan began by establishing research institutes to advance semiconductor knowledge. AI is here, and we must decide how to use it: as a tool for emancipation or enslavement.

India has invested heavily in military technology and now exports weapons, earning them a seat at the BRICS table.

Nigeria has long relied on oil or mere hope. However, a nation’s wealth isn’t just in its resources but in the value added to them. Thus, Saudi Arabia is investing $500 billion to build NEOM, a massive futuristic city, to showcase technological advancements, diversify its economy, attract global talent, and promote tourism. They’re following Dubai’s lead, as everyone moves forward.

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For decades, the journey to power in Nigeria has been about sharing the national cake, starting within one’s tribe. But that cake is diminishing. It’s an existential threat not to think about how to enlarge the cake for all to have enough. Then, setting up one’s own faction for tribal power becomes unnecessary.

The world is experiencing donor fatigue; they’re tired of giving, feeling that six decades are enough for maturation. Those who dismiss these warnings are in for a shock. Half of our budget is slated for borrowing or a mix of borrowing and debt settlement. It’s time to rethink the cycle of debt and elections. We must choose to become a nation or abandon the experiment.

AI is here. It will either be a tool for our emancipation or a tool of our enslavement. This is our chance.