1,000 Lagos Youths Get ICT Training, N46m Scholarships

For many young Nigerians, the biggest barrier to entering the technology industry is not a lack of ambition. It is the lack of access to the right training, equipment, mentors and opportunities to turn interest into a career.

That gap is what Centergate Technologies sought to address with a 30-day ICT bootcamp that brought together 1,000 young people in Lagos, giving them practical exposure to some of the skills increasingly shaping the modern workplace.

The programme, themed “Raising the Next 1,000 Tech Future Leaders,” began on July 27 and concluded on August 27, 2026, at Ogudu Senior Secondary School in Lagos.

Rather than limiting the participants to basic computer literacy, the training exposed them to areas including cybersecurity, data analytics, software engineering, animation and graphics, and robotics.

For young people from Kosofe Local Government Area and students drawn from participating secondary schools, the programme offered something more significant than a certificate: an opportunity to begin building skills that could potentially translate into employment, entrepreneurship or further education.

From Curiosity to Career Possibilities

Nigeria’s growing digital economy is creating demand for people who can work with technology, but access to quality digital-skills training remains uneven.

That makes initiatives that take training directly to young people particularly important.

Among the beneficiaries were students from Command Secondary School, Ikeja; Immaculate High School, Maryland; Ogudu Senior Secondary School, Ogudu; Alapeere High School, Ketu; and Community High School, Ketu, as well as other youths within Kosofe LGA.

For some participants, what may have started as an introduction to technology could become the first step towards a career in software development, cybersecurity, data analysis, robotics or the creative technology space.

And for families struggling to provide access to expensive technology education, the value of such exposure can go beyond the classroom.

23 Young People Get a Bigger Opportunity

The programme took another significant step at its graduation ceremony when 23 outstanding participants were awarded scholarships worth N2 million each, bringing the total scholarship value to N46 million.

The scholarships will provide the beneficiaries with one year of further ICT training, with the aim of developing them into software engineers and IT professionals.

Another 15 students were selected for six months of fully funded ICT training, giving a total of 38 young people additional opportunities to deepen their skills after the bootcamp.

For these beneficiaries, the real story may only be beginning.

A one-year opportunity to develop advanced technical skills could mean the difference between simply knowing about technology and being able to build a career from it.

More Than Numbers

Centergate Technologies said the initiative is part of its effort to contribute to the development of Nigeria’s future workforce.

The company’s CEO, Sanni Michael, described the programme as an investment in young people who can contribute to Nigeria’s emerging digital economy.

But the significance of the initiative ultimately goes beyond the company’s contribution.

The true measure of a programme like this will be what happens to the young people after the training — whether they secure jobs, launch businesses, develop products, pursue further education or become mentors to others.

As CSR Reporters noted in its assessment of the initiative, the bigger question is not simply how many people were trained, but whether the training creates a pathway from skills to opportunity, opportunity to income and income to wider economic impact.

That is particularly important in a country where young people are increasingly looking to technology and digital entrepreneurship for alternative pathways into the workforce.

For the 1,000 Lagos youths who completed the programme, therefore, the bootcamp may not be an ending.

It could be the moment when an interest in technology became a practical skill — and, for some, the beginning of a career capable of changing not only their own lives but those of the families and communities around them.