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Children in underserved and rural communities across Nigeria are being introduced to coding, animation, graphic design, desktop publishing and emerging technologies under a new initiative aimed at narrowing the country’s growing digital divide.
The programme, launched at the Rural Green AI and Creativity Education Foundation in Jakande Estate, Isolo, seeks to take technology education beyond major urban centres and provide children in remote communities with access to digital learning, creativity and innovation opportunities.
The initiative is being driven by technology and community stakeholders, including Flip to Tech and Telcroft Technologies, with plans to eventually establish learning hubs across Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones.
Taking Digital Learning Beyond the Cities
Adetunwase Adenle, co-founder of Flip to Tech, said the programme is based on the belief that a child’s access to technology education should not depend on where they are born.
He said technology can give children the opportunity to develop creative abilities, build solutions and participate in an increasingly digital economy.
The programme is initially targeting junior secondary school-age children, while also deliberately including children who are out of school and those living in remote villages.
Adenle said Flip to Tech trained about 10,000 children in the previous year and now wants to extend that reach to communities that have historically had limited access to technology infrastructure and innovation hubs.
Smart Hubs Designed for Rural Communities
Telcroft Technologies CEO Olayemi Abifarin said the initiative is designed to address the infrastructure barriers that prevent children in underserved communities from benefiting from digital education.
While many innovation hubs are concentrated in cities such as Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt, the proposed model seeks to take similar facilities closer to rural communities and areas with large populations of out-of-school children.
The hubs are expected to combine Wi-Fi connectivity, interactive boards, tablets and solar power systems, creating facilities where children can access digital lessons even in communities facing unreliable electricity and connectivity.
The model will also allow tutors and technology professionals to teach remotely. The organisers currently rely partly on volunteers and intend to create a platform through which additional volunteers can register to teach children remotely.
Kwara Hub Planned Before Year-End
The Jakande Estate facility is serving as the pilot for the programme, with the organisers planning to establish a second hub in Kwara State before the end of 2026.
The long-term target is to establish at least one hub in each of Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones before expanding the network further.
The organisers are seeking additional funding to support the expansion and eventually engage paid instructors from different parts of the world.
The initiative therefore combines physical infrastructure with remote learning, potentially allowing children in communities without large technology ecosystems to connect with instructors and resources beyond their immediate locations.
From Digital Skills to Environmental Creativity
The programme also incorporates practical creativity and environmental sustainability.
Babatunde Abdulazeez, supervisor for Wealth and Job Creation in Isolo, said technology education should increasingly be viewed as part of children’s core development rather than an optional addition to conventional schooling.
He highlighted opportunities for children to learn how discarded materials such as PET bottles and tyres can be transformed into useful products, combining digital skills with practical problem-solving.
He also encouraged parents to broaden their expectations around future careers as technology continues to reshape the workplace.
The experience of the COVID-19 pandemic, he noted, demonstrated how important digital skills had become as remote work and digital businesses expanded.
Preparing Children for an AI-Driven Economy
Artificial intelligence is another major focus of the initiative as organisers seek to prepare young people for changes in the future labour market.
Abdulazeez acknowledged concerns that AI could displace some jobs but argued that children should be equipped to work alongside emerging technologies by developing creativity, technical knowledge and the ability to innovate.
Adenle similarly stressed that the objective is not simply to teach children how to operate specific digital tools. Instead, the programme aims to give them foundational skills that will enable them to continue learning as technologies evolve.
That approach could become increasingly important as today’s AI systems are replaced by more advanced technologies, making adaptability and problem-solving skills more valuable than mastery of any single platform.
Closing Nigeria’s Urban-Rural Technology Gap
The rural hubs are ultimately designed to serve as more than training centres. Their broader objective is to give children who might otherwise remain outside Nigeria’s technology ecosystem an early opportunity to explore digital skills, creativity and entrepreneurship.
If the planned expansion across the six geopolitical zones is successfully funded and implemented, the initiative could provide a wider network of technology learning facilities for children who currently have limited access to the digital resources available in Nigeria’s major cities.
For Nigeria, the push highlights a growing challenge: ensuring that the country’s digital transformation does not remain concentrated in urban centres, but also creates opportunities for children in rural and underserved communities to participate in the technology economy.
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This version keeps the report corporate and publication-ready while giving the rural digital inclusion angle stronger prominence.
