Nigeria's ambition to build a $1 trillion digital economy, operationalize its National Artificial Intelligence Strategy, and deliver on Nigeria Agenda 2050 depends on one resource the country does not yet produce at scale: skilled, government-ready, industry-ready data professionals. Global evidence points the same way — the World Economic Forum ranks big-data specialists, AI/ML specialists and data analysts among the fastest-growing occupations worldwide through 2030, and Nigeria's own National AI Strategy sets a target of equipping 70% of the young workforce (ages 16–35), including 50% women, with AI-related skills. The gap between this ambition and the country's current talent pipeline is the central problem this brief addresses.