Youth development initiative inspires new generation of Nigerians

https://www.ft.com/

• Smartan House: a youth development initiative in Nigeria. The article introduces Smartan House, a project that aims to lift young people out of poverty by providing them access to professional training and experience in business and technology. The project is led by Johnson Abbaly, an employment consultant and education mentor, who selects high-performing school leavers from poorer communities to join the free, year-long programme.

• Exposure to expertise and opportunities. The article describes how Smartan House exposes the participants to such technologies as AI, data analytics and cyber security, and arranges work experience for them with various organisations, such as Sterling Bank, Bet9ja, and Future Africa. The participants also model how industries are projected to change and write proposals on how to optimise companies for greater productivity.

• Intellectual growth and social impact. The article explains how Abbaly assesses the participants in terms of their intellectual growth potential, their critical thinking and pattern recognition, and their ability to apply what they learn to their lives. He also hopes that the participants will have a positive social impact by creating solutions for the challenges facing Nigeria and the world.

• Success stories and challenges. The article shares some success stories of the participants, such as Temitope Ejide, who went from Abbaly’s previous programme, Successor Generation Community, to a job at Bloomberg, and Solomon Taiwo, who was working as a car washer before joining Smartan House and is now pursuing his dream of working in technology. The article also acknowledges some of the challenges that the project faces, such as funding, infrastructure, and security issues.