New Horizons Launches N50m Tech Scholarship Scheme for Almajiri Pupils

An ICT training institute, New Horizons Nigeria, has announced a major CSR initiative that is geared towards improving Nigeria's GDP, reduce unemployment and improve national security significantly.

The Initiative is tagged: Almajiris -to-Tech, a N50 million empowerment initiative aimed at taking Almajiri children off the streets and equip them with practical, income-generating technical skill as computer technicians.

The scheme, which forms part of the firm's Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), is designed to create public awareness and mobilize strategic partnerships, particularly with Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and Government Institutions, to address the Almajiri phenomenon through sustainable, non-kinetic humane solutions.

Managing Director of New Horizons Nigeria, Mr. Tim Akano, asserted that the continued presence of Almajiri children on the streets is not a failure of the children themselves but a reflection of broader societal negligence.

Akano, who spoke to journalists in Lagos at the weekend, maintained that God has not created any human being useless, and that every individual is born free to pursue happiness and dignity.

"As such, I believe that purely kinetic approaches cannot solve the Almajiri challenge, but rather a combination of kinetic and non-kinetic interventions, with strong emphasis on empowerment and reorientation", he said.

The Almajiris to tech initiative is a 90-day intensive empowerment program starting on the 19th of January 2026, with the aim of transforming Almajiri victims into skilled computer and electronics technicians. Beneficiaries will receive hands-on training in the repair and maintenance of laptops, desktops, projectors, telephones, radios, fans, inverter batteries, and other related electronic devices.

Also, participants will be trained on innovative and environmentally sustainable practices, including the use of scrap laptop batteries (e-waste) to power rechargeable fans, build UPS batteries, and construct inverter batteries. They will also focus on laptop and desktop repairs, Mobile phone repair, television, fan and projector repair.

Recognizing that true empowerment begins with mindset transformation, the first week of the empowerment programme will focus on mind re-orientation.

This phase will involve structured sessions facilitated by a psychologist and an elite Imam, and will be delivered in the Hausa language, with the aim to reprogramming participants away from violence, hopelessness, and begging, and instilling values of confidence, discipline, responsibility, love, and hope, thereby preparing them to become productive and law-abiding citizens. Such topics as Becoming Good Citizenship, Patriotism, virtues of hard work, good neighbourliness etc will be taught.

Furthermore, the programme is scheduled to commence on 19th January at the New Horizons Training Centre, Abuja, and will be implemented in two batches.

The first batch, he said, is dedicated to key empowerment stakeholders. Ten (10) slots have been allocated to the People Expertise and Excellence Foundation (PEEF), an NGO committed to skill acquisition and human capital development, while another ten (10) slots have been allocated to Senator Solomon Olamilekan Adeola (Yayi).

Senator Yayi is a long-standing and widely respected youth empowerment advocate who has previously facilitated the training of over 5,000 youths across South-West Nigeria through New Horizons Nigeria. The allocation of slots to him under this scheme is intended to extend his youth empowerment initiatives to Northern Nigeria, particularly among Almajiri communities.

Also, at the conclusion of the training, New Horizons Nigeria will ensure that participants are not left unsupported. Graduates will be assisted with market placement, they will be provided with suitable locations to operate, and formally settled as New Horizons Computer Technicians.

In addition, the best graduating student (Almajiri) will receive full funding and a complete set of business tools to immediately commence independent practice. Throughout the training period, New Horizons will also provide essential tools for practical sessions, including items such as screwdrivers and other technical equipment.

To demonstrate its commitment to the success of the initiative, New Horizons Nigeria is committing the sum of N50 million to the project.

This funding will cover participants' feeding, T-shirts, logistics, training materials, and the provision of working tools. The organization notes that this empowerment model is not new, having successfully implemented similar interventions during the Amnesty Program under former President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua where over 5,000 repentant militants were re-programmed and gainfully employed, and during World Bank's youth empowerment where over 1,000 youth were trained.

In the same vein, a competition will be organized at the end of the programme, where the New Horizons Almajiri Technicians will be divided into four teams and each team would be challenged to build their own personal computer (PC), and also brand it with names of their teams. The team names are Team Shettima, Team Akpabio, Team Abbas, and Team Yayi.

Also, New Horizons will provide Post Almajiri Training through the technical portal that will be dedicated to the trained and certified participants. The portal will contain the names, telephone numbers, pictures, participant certificate numbers and their various guardian details.

Akano said the second phase of the New Horizons Almajiri Empowerment Scheme is scheduled for the second quarter of 2026 and New Horizons Nigeria is calling on NGOs, government bodies, agencies, and leaders genuinely committed to peace, development, and total transformation of Nigeria to partner with the organization in scaling the impact of the program.

He said, "In conclusion, one low hanging fruit for the Tinubu administration to increase Nigeria's GDP by $20 Billion in 2027 is to put the 15 million Almajiris to work leveraging the New Horizons Almajiris- to -Tech initiative. At a GDP of $1200 per person, Nigeria economy will witness a considerable turn around immediately."