COGNITIVE WARFARE: DEFENDING NIGERIA’S "HUMAN DOMAIN" AGAINST AI-DRIVEN PERCEPTION MANAGEMENT AND INDUSTRIALIZED DISINFORMATION

Abstract

Research Problem: This study examines cognitive warfare as an emerging national security threat in Nigeria, particularly in the context of AI-driven perception management and industrialised disinformation within the human domain. It investigates how platform dynamics, identity politics, institutional trust deficits, and low digital literacy increase vulnerability to coordinated media manipulation. Methods/theory: The study is anchored on Securitisation Theory, reinterpreted to focus on the securitisation of manipulative informational processes such as synthetic media production, algorithmic amplification, and coordinated inauthentic behaviour. A qualitative approach is adopted using secondary data from policy reports, governance documents, and peer-reviewed literature. Interpretive policy analysis is used to strengthen contextual understanding of governance responses. Results: Findings indicate that cognitive warfare has evolved into a technologically enabled form of strategic competition targeting trust, emotions, and decision-making. Nigeria’s institutional frameworks remain fragmented, reactive, and poorly coordinated, with significant gaps in strategic communication, AI detection capacity, and digital literacy. These weaknesses collectively heighten national vulnerability to disinformation ecosystems. Attention is also given to the role of platform algorithms in amplifying polarisation. Conclusion: The study concludes that safeguarding Nigeria’s human domain requires a comprehensive resilience-based framework that integrates technological, institutional, and civic dimensions of information security. Key Contribution to Knowledge: The paper extends Securitisation Theory to digital psychological conflict and introduces an integrated resilience model for understanding AI-enabled cognitive warfare in Nigeria. Recommendation: It recommends enhanced digital literacy programmes, inter-agency coordination, strategic communication reforms, investment in AI-driven detection systems, and strengthened civic resilience mechanisms to protect democratic trust and cognitive autonomy. Urgent policy coordination is required across security and communication institutions.