inside-ogun-states-first-real-bet-on-rural-tech-talent

In 2012, while many students hurried past the gate of Moshood Abiola Polytechnic after lectures, an undergraduates noticed something everyone else had overlooked. Students were hungry, yet no one was selling fast food like noodles and eggs outside the campus, instead of complaining about the problem, Adefisoye Adeshola Joseph turned it into a business opportunity. He had no idea that this simple decision would launch him into the first chapter of a biggest story.

More than a decade later, that same decision built a mindset that gave birth to the Nigeria Entrepreneurship Youth Initiative (N.E.Y.I) Techprenuership Hub, a rural innovation hub committed to helping underserved young people build businesses and digital careers.

The mission of Nigeria Entrepreneurship Youth Initiative, Techprenuership Hub is to give rural and semi-urban entrepreneurs In Ogun State, access to the kind of structured support that has always been reserved for people in Lagos and Abuja.

The hub wasn't created because there is an opportunity. It was created because there was a gap to significance to ignore.

Oguns state has the highest higher institution in Nigeria, with over 24 universities, polytechnics and several colleges of education. Yet, thousands of graduates from these institutions every year and return to their rural communities with academic certificates but no digital skills, business structure or pathway to grow the digital economy in Nigeria.

What makes N.E.Y.I Techpreneurship Hub different from many innovation hubs across Abeokuta is not just its location but the philosophy behind its work. Rather than focusing on training alone, the hub has built a structured pathway that helps aspiring entrepreneurs move from curiosity to business creation.

Every participant passes through a six-stage journey: Discover, Train, Incubate, Attach, Launch, and Mentor. The process begins by helping individuals identify their interests and entrepreneurial strengths before equipping them with practical digital skills such as digital marketing, prompt engineering, AI automation, and no-code development. Instead of teaching theory in isolation, participants apply these skills directly to business ideas they are developing.

Training is only the beginning. Entrepreneurs are then attached to established businesses for practical industry experience, allowing them to understand how successful enterprises operate while contributing their newly acquired digital skills. Afterward, they launch and test their products or services with continued mentorship to help them navigate the early stages of growth.

According to the organisation, this model was not designed from theory alone. It is the product of over thirteen years of working directly with young people and entrepreneurs in rural communities, refining its approach through practical experience.

The impact of that approach can be seen in the numbers. Since its establishment in 2012, N.E.Y.I has built a database of more than 20,000 entrepreneurs and young people. Over 6,000 individuals have received training through its programmes, while more than 5,000 startups have launched with its support. The organisation has also incubated hundreds of businesses and contributed to the creation of thousands of jobs through the enterprises it has helped develop.

Beyond training, the hub has organised community symposiums and introduced programmes such as Scoutpreneurship in Tech, Fashionpreneurship in Tech, and Kidpreneurship in Tech, all designed to ensure that innovation opportunities reach communities that are often overlooked by mainstream technology ecosystems.

The organisation's grassroots approach has attracted national recognition. In 2024, N.E.Y.I received support from the Tony Elumelu Foundation, enabling it to acquire a permanent site opposite Moshood Abiola Polytechnic in Araromi. The facility is currently being expanded into a larger rural innovation and co-working campus capable of serving even more entrepreneurs.

Its work has also earned recognition from organisations including the Office for Nigerian Digital Innovation (ONDI) under NITDA, the Industrial Training Fund, Junior Chamber International (JCI), and the Ogun technology community. These partnerships reflect growing confidence in the hub's model of combining entrepreneurship with digital innovation in underserved communities.

For founder Adefisoye Adeshola Joseph, the vision extends far beyond Abeokuta. He hopes to make N.E.Y.I a model that can be replicated across rural communities throughout Nigeria and, eventually, Africa.

Plans are already underway to strengthen collaboration with Moshood Abiola Polytechnic and expand the hub's reach through additional partnerships and programmes that prepare young people for the opportunities within the digital economy.

While many innovation hubs continue to concentrate their efforts in major cities, N.E.Y.I is proving that meaningful innovation can begin anywhere. What started with one student noticing hungry classmates outside a campus gate has grown into a movement dedicated to ensuring that geography is no longer a barrier to opportunity.