TRAVELOGUE: What happened in Vegas!!!

“What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.” I had at all times thought-about {that a} remarkably handy rule. This time, nevertheless, I broke with custom. I returned to Las Vegas for “The Assembly,” the Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists’ convention, and the go to gave me a number of tales I couldn’t fairly go away behind.

Getting to Vegas was a narrative of its personal. After practically 20 hours of journey, I boarded the ultimate leg from New York’s JFK Airport to Las Vegas, pondering the laborious half was over. It was a home flight, so I had imagined a brief hop. Five hours later, I used to be much less sure. ‘Na this one dem dey call short flight?’ That one flight was roughly so long as flying from Lagos to Cairo.

Somewhere over the United States, I discovered myself enthusiastic about the talk over how Africa seems on the world map. It is correct to point out the continent at its true scale. But a bigger Africa on paper will imply extra to its folks once they can transfer throughout it extra simply. We want sustainable African airways, reliable connections and routes that spare travellers the lengthy detours that may flip a journey between African cities into an expedition.

I had been in Vegas for “The Assembly” two years earlier. The metropolis was as dazzling as marketed, brilliant lights, stressed crowds, and buildings seemingly designed to win an argument with the desert. I went residence with a lot to say, however obeyed the unwritten Vegas rule. I have to admit, it was tough. This 12 months’s go to felt totally different. Since my earlier go to, I had develop into extra conscious of one other aspect of Vegas. Beyond the spectacular lodges and casinos, I noticed folks sleeping outdoor; some seemed to be battling drug use. How may a spot that displayed a lot wealth even have folks dwelling this manner? This time, I made a decision to ask.

They say one of the best ways to study a metropolis’s secrets and techniques is to ask a taxi driver. In my village, now we have the ‘mai shayi.’ Order one cup of tea and, earlier than it cools, it’s possible you’ll know who quarrelled, who settled and who’s pretending they by no means quarrelled in the primary place. Vegas was a great distance from my village, however the methodology travelled properly. I requested my driver in regards to the folks I had seen sleeping outdoor. “No be gossip o. Na the why I dey find!”

The driver was Ethiopian. His English got here in quick, typically damaged phrases, and I needed to pay attention intently. When phrases failed him, his palms took over. He opened one palm in the direction of the casinos, then drew a small circle in the air as he described a path from playing to medication, monetary misery and, for some, homelessness. I understood his level. “This is Vegas,” he stated. It was one driver’s account, not a proof for each individual I had seen, however his gesture stayed with me, the circle he drew towards a backdrop of dazzling buildings.

Vegas additionally introduced again a really totally different reminiscence. Tupac Shakur was killed in this metropolis, however lengthy earlier than I visited it, his music had already discovered its manner into my secondary college years. In “Changes,” he spoke of a “war on poverty” and questioned why public consideration appeared to favour a battle on medication as an alternative. Decades later, I discovered that query extra demanding than I had as a pupil. It asks whether or not we measure progress solely by the issues we confront, or additionally by the lives we assist enhance. It is a query I explored extra absolutely in an earlier PREMIUM TIMES article, “Nigeria’s violence is not holy war; it’s sustained state of deprivation.” There, I argued that we can’t perceive violence by its slogans alone; we should additionally study deprivation, corruption and the general public decisions that enable each to persist. Tupac’s line has stayed with me since college.

I by no means realized to rap, an final result for which my family members ought to in all probability be grateful. But that didn’t cease me from taking the stage at a social night time at Federal Government College Kaduna virtually three many years in the past. I mimed Usher’s “Can U Get Wit It” earlier than an viewers. Whether they acquired with it’s a query I’ve correctly by no means investigated. Tupac’s phrases, although, had been those I realized to take heed to. Tupac was killed in Las Vegas in 1996. Thirty years later, and shortly earlier than my return to town, a jury convicted Duane Davis of his homicide. The timing was putting. I had come for conversations about monetary crime and accountability, in a metropolis the place one other lengthy pursuit of accountability had simply reached a verdict.

That query of accountability adopted me into “The Assembly.” At a session on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and monetary crime, Tony Eastin of Google made two factors that stayed with me. First, establishments spend closely on folks and processes, but nonetheless miss warning indicators that AI may help establish a lot quicker. Second, the competition is unequal: a fraudster must get by the defences solely as soon as, whereas these defending the system can’t afford to overlook that one try.

AI appeared to search out its manner into each session I attended. At first, I questioned whether or not it was taking up the convention. Then my ideas turned homeward. How ready was Africa for this alteration? More significantly, what was Nigeria doing to make it helpful to its folks? I met a number of Nigerian bankers and authorities officers on the convention.

Their presence introduced the dialog nearer to residence. I discovered myself questioning how the concepts mentioned in Vegas may translate into safer banking and higher public companies in Nigeria. Being a part of the dialog was a helpful begin; placing the teachings to work can be the actual check. For an odd Nigerian, the query needn’t start with how the know-how works. It can start with one thing acquainted: may it assist defend the cash in my account? Could it shorten the time I spend chasing a doc in a authorities workplace? Could it assist a instructor with paperwork and go away extra time for educating? These are the sorts of outcomes that might make the thrill worthwhile.

Some of those potentialities had been already being examined. In January 2025, the federal government introduced the launch of DeepTechReady, involving 3MTT, Data Science Nigeria and assist from Google.org, with a goal of coaching 20,000 younger Nigerians in AI and information abilities. But coaching should lead someplace. Our younger folks want alternatives to use what they study; in banks, colleges, hospitals and public workplaces. Otherwise, we’ll hold applauding their potential at residence and celebrating its fulfilment overseas. Consequently, we should get the fundamentals proper by inexpensive web, regular energy provide and correct information. If an workplace can’t discover your file as we speak, an costly AI system is not going to robotically carry out the miracle tomorrow.

For Africa, and Nigeria in specific, the ambition needs to be to make use of AI and assist construct instruments that perceive our languages and clear up our on a regular basis issues. Progress needs to be measured by what improves for odd folks, akin to safer financial savings, faster companies and higher alternatives for the expertise we have already got. But enthusiasm should include judgment.

These reflections jogged my memory of my late Political Economy lecturer, Mohammed Wader, who launched me to the seminal works of Samir Amin, Andre Gunder Frank and Immanuel Wallerstein. Years later, in Vegas, Mr Amin’s thought of delinking felt shut at hand; our engagement with the world ought to serve our personal growth wants. For Nigeria, meaning embracing AI whereas giving our folks room to construct it. Otherwise, we might enter the revolution with loads of subscriptions and little or no say in its path.

Furthermore, Eli Wachs, CEO and co-founder of Footprint, emphasised one other level that stayed with me. He posits that human oversight stays important, as skilled professionals retain final accountability for choices made with the help of AI. The machine might draw consideration to one thing uncommon; an individual should nonetheless study the details. An harmless buyer shouldn’t endure just because a pc sounded sure. That thought took my thoughts again to Kaduna. In a current Daily Trust report, the Vice Chancellor of Ahmadu Bello University, Professor Adamu Ahmed, warned that AI should not change crucial pondering. He urged postgraduate college students to confirm what these instruments produced and stay answerable for their work. That recommendation belonged in the Vegas dialog too. Whether we’re doing a little evaluation or defending somebody’s financial savings, “the computer said so” ought to by no means be the tip of the dialogue.

I left “The Assembly” satisfied that Nigeria ought to embrace this revolution with objective. Start with issues folks recognise. Give our younger folks room to work. Check the outcomes, right the errors and construct on what succeeds. Earlier in the journey, I had thought of Africa’s measurement on the map. In the convention halls, I discovered myself enthusiastic about its place in the long run. We ought to have a hand in shaping that future, and odd folks ought to be capable to really feel the distinction.

Away from the convention, there was one other suggestion from my taxi driver to contemplate. Before we parted, he had inspired me to attempt the Big Apple Coaster at (New York Hotel & Casino). One night, I took his recommendation and joined the queue. The experience climbed 203 toes, dropped so far as 144 toes and reached 108 kilometres per hour. I had learn these figures already. Standing beneath the observe gave them a brand new that means. Then India got here again to me. I had as soon as tried a experience there that was nowhere close to this excessive, but it frightened me sufficient to go away a long-lasting impression. In the Vegas queue, my adventurous self argued that the India expertise had ready me. My different self replied that India was exactly the rationale I ought to return to my resort room with its mountain view and make a cup of espresso. Every time the coaster roared overhead, that second voice introduced contemporary proof.

Still, I moved ahead with the queue. I had come all the best way to Vegas. Surely I may handle a curler coaster? Then I remembered that the Vice President of the United States was roughly my agemate, although, between us, “I senior the guy small.” At our age, I believed, one should study to tell apart braveness from pointless analysis into gravity. I stepped out of the queue with what I hoped regarded just like the composure of an elite observer. Just a few steps later, I used to be transferring quite quicker than an elite observer ought to. My taxi driver had inspired journey; I had listened, thought-about it rigorously and made an honourable retreat. “No be every height person must conquer. Me, dis life no tire me o.” I really like my Naija.

One of my extra mischievous buddies warned me to “be careful with the Vegas nightlife.” “They call it Sin City,” he jogged my memory, with quite extra enthusiasm than concern. My pricey good friend, Sin City has no case towards me. By the time the nightlife started, I used to be in my room, quick asleep. My physique was nonetheless eight hours forward, working on Nigerian time and refusing all requests to regulate. If anybody claims in any other case, my pillow is my witness. So, there you have got it, nothing happened in Vegas. Vegas happened round me whereas I slept.

Even leaving Vegas got here with its personal small drama. On the flight again to New York, three hours appeared to vanish. New York was three hours forward of Vegas, so flying east meant transferring the clock ahead. The native arrival time made the journey look three hours longer than the time I had truly spent travelling. I had not misplaced these hours in the air, nevertheless it definitely felt as if the day was getting away from me. On the outward journey, travelling west had lent me these hours. Coming again, the clock collected its debt. No be solely financial institution dey get well mortgage.

Let me go away you right here and munch the final of the cheese-flavoured Doritos I imported from Vegas. During the convention, jet lag saved me sleepy, however the Doritos saved me going. Now the packet is sort of empty. After all the things we went by collectively, ending it appears like saying goodbye to a good friend. “Ha! Doritos fit stay for Vegas, but these lessons must reach Naija. We no fit travel that far come back with only crumb.”