NASENI Hosts Future Makers Programme to Drive Innovation Among Nigerian Teens

The National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI) in a three-day regional pitching session, brought together young innovators, judges, investors, and stakeholders to address pressing national challenges through youth-driven innovation. The event tagged Future Makers, features young children presenting inventions already in motion, with judges offering their assessments and feedback.
 

The event, which began on Monday, 24th of August, 2026, is structured around Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones, with two zones featured each day. According to the host, the Northwest and Southwest zones were scheduled to pitch on the opening day.

The host explained that the day’s pitches would be anchored on specific thematic hackathon questions tailored to each zone. For the Northwest zone, participants were tasked with addressing the question of how gendered barriers limit access to opportunities for innovation and innovative thinking. The Southwest zone’s thematic challenge centred on how to combat the high cost of education, particularly for the average family.
 

Delivering the keynote address, the The National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure(NASENI) Khalil Suleiman Halilu stated “Distinguished guests, partners, colleagues, and most importantly, our young future makers, it’s a great pleasure to welcome you to the NASENI Future Makers Program. At NASENI, we believe it’s not oil and gas or minerals, it’s our people, and particularly our young people. So the Future Makers was created around the simple idea, talent is everywhere, but opportunities are not. There are brilliant young Nigerians across this industry and this country with the ability to become engineers, scientists, innovators, entrepreneurs, and technology leaders. What many need is access, access to education, practical experience, mentorship. This program is about more than training people for jobs.”
 

At the end of the Northwest zone pitching session, Amina Ahmad emerged in 1st position with Skillswap Nigeria, an app that allows secondary school students to teach what they know to others while learning what they need from their preferred school. Ruqayah Safrah Faruq placed 2nd with Eco-Glow Lab, a project turning orange peels waste sourced in Kano, into materials that give children access to STEM and science. Maryam Amir Hamid placed 3rd.

For the Southwest zone, Joshua Agboola emerged 1st with PragmaLearn, Stephanie Emmanuella placed 2nd with LearnQuest, and Joel Idahosa placed 3rd with Relearn Marketplace.

While for the North Central region, Munachi Kalu came 3rd with her GreenHouse Project for Kids. Jatto Ahmed Tijani came 2nd with his Solar powered hermetic storage  silos while Mary Oluwabusayomi Umaholen came 1st with her project on Smart hydrophonic kit.
Winners from the South South region include Havilah Uche-Aniche with his SmartSesh pitch came 3rd, Ayomide Daniel Olorunfemi with Digital Skill app was in the second position while Precious Akabude-Odozi who pitched Velora came first.

According to the organisers, the winners in the first position would proceed to Abuja for a national pitch to win 5 million nairaand a world tour, with access to scholarship opportunities. Among the innovations pitched across the two zones were projects addressing waste recycling, mathematics, AI integration, flood management, and digital classroom learning.