There is a question we ask ourselves all the time: What good is a thriving tech ecosystem if the next generation does not know they can be part of it?
As 2023 winds up, we decided to stop asking and start acting. We took that question directly into the classrooms of Ogun State.
The Outreach
We embarked on a digital education outreach program across three of Ogun State’s most established public secondary schools:
- Lisabi Grammar School
- Baptist Girls Grammar School
- Abeokuta Grammar School
Over three one-day visits, one per school, our team engaged over 500 students in hands-on digital education sessions designed specifically for young people who had little to no prior exposure to technology as a career or everyday tool.
What We Taught
The sessions were structured around three core pillars that we believe every young Nigerian needs to navigate today’s world confidently:
1. Basic Computer Skills. For many of the students, this was their first real, guided introduction to using a computer. From navigating an operating system to understanding file management and keyboard basics, we met students exactly where they were and moved them forward.
2. Internet & Digital Literacy Knowing how to use the internet safely and effectively is one of the most critical skills of our generation. We walked students through how to search, evaluate, and use online information responsibly, equipping them to be informed, discerning digital citizens rather than passive consumers.
3. Career Opportunities in Tech Perhaps the most eye-opening session for many students was discovering the sheer breadth of career paths available in the technology industry. From software development and data analysis to UI/UX design, and beyond, we showed them that tech is not a single door but an entire building full of rooms, and that any one of them could walk in.
Why These Schools?
Lisabi Grammar School, Baptist Girls Grammar School, and Abeokuta Grammar School are institutions with long, proud histories in Ogun State. They serve hundreds of young people from across their communities, students with ambition, curiosity, and drive. What many lacked was exposure.
In a world where a student’s first encounter with technology can determine the trajectory of their entire career, we refused to let geography or institutional resources be the deciding factor.
2023 was also a pivotal year for Nigeria’s digital economy, with more employers demanding digital fluency than ever before, and more young people falling through the gap. We knew we could not train everyone at once. But we could plant seeds. We could show over 500 young people that technology was not something that happened to other people in other places; it was something they could build, shape, and lead.
More Than a Visit
A one-day visit might sound brief. But we have learned that the most powerful thing you can give a young person is not always a skill, and sometimes it is a shift in perspective. The moment a student realises that the phone in their pocket or the computer in their school library is a gateway to a career, to income, to impact, everything changes.
Across all three schools, we saw that moment happen. Again and again.
Students who came in thinking tech was “not for them” left asking how they could learn more. Teachers engaged with our facilitators about how to keep the conversation going in their classrooms. And TIYE left with something too, a deeper conviction that grassroots, school-based digital education is one of the highest-leverage investments we can make in Nigeria’s future.
This Is Just the Beginning
The school outreach was one chapter in TIYE’s broader commitment to taking digital education beyond conference halls and training centres and into the communities, classrooms, and corners of Ogun State where it is needed most.
We are not waiting for young people to find tech. We are bringing tech to them. TIYE Executive Director
TIYE is a non-governmental organisation dedicated to empowering young Africans through digital skills, education technology, and access to quality employment opportunities. To partner with us or support our school outreach programs, get in touch at admin@tiye.org