General News
SAP Leading Technological Revolution among Young Students in W/Africa – Ajayi
Olajide Ajayi is the director FIRST LEGO LEAGUE (FLL) Nigeria. He is also a Software Engineer/Technical Quality Manager with SAP in Ireland.
SAP is the number one Enterprise Software Application provider in the world. Ajayi is currently coordinating the FIRST® LEGO® League Nigeria with the support of SAP and NITDA.
In this interview with Peter Ugwu, he spoke on their plans to develop next generation of scientists, technologies, engineers and mathematicians in Nigeria via FLL.
First LEGO League
This program is an alliance between LEGO®, the educational giant and FIRST, an organization in the USA. FIRST® was founded by Dean Kamen, an American and inventor, who made Segway, a motorized cycle. He has lots of patent in the US and just thought to himself, ‘I can create things why don’t I teach people how to create things’.
So he founded the organization called FIRST and then partnered with LEGO to form the FIRST LEGO League. FIRST® LEGO® League is an Educational partnership between FIRST® and the LEGO® Group. It is a program for a team (comprising of 2-10) of children from ages 9 to 16 with a different challenge/theme issued annually. It has three (3) components comprising of Project, Robot Game and Core Values.
In the project, teams research a real-life issue related to the theme of the year, create or proffer a new and innovative solution, then present this information (using different presentation models and props) during a timed presentation to the judges.
This is followed up by a timed question and answer period. The robot game deals with robot design, build and programming to complete a set of missions on a thematic table-top playing surface. Core Values – the FLL Core Values are the cornerstones of the FLL program.
They are among the fundamental elements that distinguish FLL from other programs of its kind. By embracing the Core Values, participants learn that friendly competition and mutual gain are not separate goals, and that helping one another is the foundation of teamwork.
The values are: We are a team; we do the work to find solutions with guidance from our coaches and mentors; we know our coaches and mentors don’t have all the answers; we learn together; we honour the spirit of friendly competition; what we discover is more important than what we win; we share our experiences with others; we display Gracious Professionalism® and Coopertition® in everything we do and we have FUN!
The program offers immense benefits to participating schools and students. It provides schools with a great opportunity to introduce technology into the curriculum to help sharpen students’ digital numeracy skills and also for teachers to get some good training in modern teaching and mentoring techniques.
Some benefits for students are highlighted by using the yearly Challenges, FLL: Entices kids to think like scientits and engineers; provides a fun, creative, hands-on learning experience; teaches kids to experiment and overcome obstacles; builds self-esteem and confidence; inspires kids to participate in science and technology; kids develop life skills such as communication, project, resources and time management and it also offers students unlimited opportunities to test their wits against those of their peers around the world and prepares them to compete favourably in the future within the global knowledge economy.
Partnership with SAP and NITDA
SAP supported us with equipment for Lagos and NITDA(National Information Technology Development Agency) responsible for Abuja.
As I said the program currently being supported by SAP and NITDA is open to more sponsors as number of teams grows year on year and more regions are added to existing ones.
SAP is channelling the future of kids age 9-16 by sponsoring the FIRST® LEGO® League in West Africa. The software giant have taken a leap of faith to support this program and the rewards are starting to show. Recently, at the University of Lagos Nigeria a group of young students called SAP Smart Teens from Onilekere Junior Secondary School Ikeja, a suburb of Lagos Nigeria came out victorious at the inaugural FLL program.
The event had over 300 students, mentors and members of the public in attendance. It was covered by most media houses including AIT, Daily Times, Daily Trust, Nigerian Communication Week etc. The program was hosted by the University of Lagos.
The FLL program is an annual event where kids demographic 9-16 are tasked with the responsibility of finding solution to real-life problems. It also embodies the Core Values of the FLL of Gracious Professionalism and Coopetition.
The most exciting for kids at the University of Lagos event was the Robot Game where the competitors have to carry out several missions on thematic tables using autonomous robots.
Target Demographic Under FIRST LEGO LEAGUE Initiative
The target age is 9 years to 16 years because it is an age bracket we feel will have the mental capability to learn the programming and the rigorous task that we want to put them through.
Possible Extension to Tertiary Institutions
FIRST® as an organization have other programs, one is the Junior FLL, which is targeted at the primary kids, then FLL which is targeted to nine to 16 years, then FTC which is First Tech Challenge targeted at the university. So we will be bringing that as well.
Place of Government in Pushing FLL
We have nothing from the Federal Government yet. We are a Non-Governmental /Not for Profit Organisation (NGO) and we have been running on a shoe string budget and been working with people on a shoe string budget.
You know that volunteering culture is not very popular in Nigeria, so everybody we have to work with we have to pay and most of these payments have been coming from personal pockets. We are so short on resources it is unreal, but we just decided that we will carry this through.
We will need other organizations within the public and private sector to support this initiative. e.g. Intel, Google, Telcos like MTN, Airtel, Globacom, Etisalat and other organizations that have the interest of kids at heart.
First LEGO League Competition in Nigeria
This is the inaugural FIRST LEGO LEAGUE competition in Nigeria and it is an annual event. So we give the kids the challenge about August and they work till September through November, December. They work for eight weeks and then we will organize a championship for them.
This year we started late because the resources didn’t come in until much later in the year. So we started in November however schools vacation in December delayed things a bit further. That is why we are doing this at this time.
Next year we will be doing the next one in November/December, so we can get the winners of the Regional championships in Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt and Enugu (Which we plan on including this year) to compete at a National championship.
We want to expand along the geopolitical zones. So we started in Abuja which is the North Central and Lagos which is the South West.
We hope to do the South-South and South-East this year so that we can have the National Championship in January. We have the Regional in December and National championship in January.
Selection of Schools
In Lagos we are working with public schools. We approached the Education District and we asked for 10 schools for the pilot phase, but they gave us 20 schools so we merged the 20 schools to 12 teams. Each team comprises of 2-10 students.
Assessment of ICT industry In Nigeria?
ICT in Nigeria is growing. It takes a visionary leader to turn things around and the Minister in charge is doing a lot I think some collaboration between the Ministries of Education and Communication Tech would help strengthen TechEd(Technology Education). Some of the schools we work with lack resources and the teachers lack basic ICT skills.
So one of the things we hope to achieve with this program is to teach the teachers so that we can build an ecosystem of trained ICT teachers who are able to impart STEM Skills to their students.
Fate of Participating Students and Schools after the Competition
Each school will work in their own school and the ones we joined together have been working cooperatively.
The program does not end after the season as the schools will continue working on honing their programming skills in readiness for the next season.
Government and Funding of Nigeria’s Knowledge Economy
The Federal Government is interested in capacity building for youth within the knowledge economy; thankfully we have a Minister of Communication Technology who is a technocrat and knows that technology should be placed at the core of our development.
We only need people to come up with initiatives such as this and I am certain that she would embrace them. We can’t expect the government to do everything so we need the third sector, public private to come in to fill these gaps.
Hope of Localizing FLL Tools for Local Content Development
What we do is that LEGO gives us a challenge every year and the challenge for this year is going to be “how do you manage your waste”.
Waste is generated everywhere across the world, so the kids in England will work on how to manage their waste looking at their environment.
The kids in Nigeria will look at the Nigerian environment and see how to manage their waste. It is localized and it funnels down to the local environment.
The kids in England will teach us how they want to learn. And the kids in Nigeria will teach us how they want to learn. It is an application and you apply it to your environment. It is a gestation that will determine the idea you are to throw forward.
Is Robotic Technology Not a New Concept In Nigeria?
It is a new concept in Nigeria and CODERINA is one of the pioneers to bring it to Nigeria. I must say the CODERINA team who are the regional operational partner of FLL have performed really well in such a short time. They only saw this program through my eyes and they hit the ground running and have been able to put together two regional championships in the first year.
Robotics is good for kids because it teaches them how to build, how to create things and changes the mindset that we don’t really have to make much because other people will make them anyway. This is a game changer and it will teach the kids that they can actually create something. Because we gave the students these robots in parts and they built the robots with the software we gave them. You have seen the results of their hard-work today.
First LEGO Legague in the Next Two To Five Years
In the next two to five years we want FIRST LEGO League to be running across the Federation and we can grow horizontally within the states and we can eventually have central points where kids can come and partake and learn about technology and its application for FREE. We want to take this program to the rural areas, and everywhere we can take it to because this is the future of education.
How Do You Recruit Teams For The Program
The FLL program is open to teams of 2-10kids (having two adult mentors) from public and private schools, after-school groups, churches or mosques group of kids.
The next recruitment session for teams starts in April through May and spaces are limited. Registration of teams is done by registering an interest on the organisers website www.fllnigeria.org or by requesting a demo through the outreach contact at planning@coderina.org.
Ola Olukoyede, chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), has raised the alarm that some corrupt Nigerian politicians are now hiding their illicit wealth in cryptocurrencies to evade scrutiny and detection by anti-graft agencies.
Ola Olukoyede, chairman, EFCC
The EFCC boss said the agency had uncovered a growing trend where fraudulent public officials now used cryptocurrency wallets to stash stolen public funds and conduct illicit transactions.
Olukoyede made the revelation at an event commemorating Africa Anti-Corruption Day.
The event was held simultaneously in Abuja, Lagos and Ibadan, Oyo State.
Other speakers at the event lamented that Nigerians usually fell victim to crypto fraud, including the recent CBEX scam, where Nigerians lost over N1.3tn.
Olukoyede said, “Virtual asset fraud is on the rise. Our findings show that fraudulent politicians are already perfecting schemes and hiding their loot in cryptocurrencies to beat the investigative blackness of anti-corruption agencies.
“Stolen funds and unexplained wealth are being warehoused in wallets and payment for services are being done through this window,” he said.
Olukoyede warned that while the rise of virtual assets had transformed financial transactions globally, it had also created new avenues for money laundering and financial crimes.
He said, “Technology is moving at a supersonic speed around the world.
“The advent of virtual assets is a response to one of the qualities of money as a store of value like it is known in our elementary economies.”
“However, as with every progressive innovation, fraud starts to usually evolve, evolve ways of perverting their genuine purposes,” he said.
He added that the EFCC was not helpless in the face of the sophisticated schemes, noting that proactive training and intelligence sharing had enabled the commission to identify and investigate such cases.
Airtel Nigeria, telecommunications and digital solutions provider, has reemphasised its commitment to national development with a two-day workshop for companies in Nigeria’s Banking, Financial Services & Insurance (BFSI) and utility sectors.
Held from July 8 to 9, 2025 at the Lagos Continental, the exclusive event brought together C-suite executives and industry thought leaders to co-create transformative and tech-driven solutions for these critical industries.
Themed “Banking on Innovation: Powering Financial Services with Connectivity” on 1 and “Accelerating Nigeria’s Digital Leap: Smarter Networks, Smarter Business” on Day 2, the sessions were designed to identify critical pain points, unlock business potential, and drive smarter, more connected operations across two of the nation’s most essential sectors.
Delivering the keynote address, Dinesh Balsingh, Managing Director/CEO of Airtel Nigeria, reaffirmed Airtel’s dedication to enabling and driving Nigeria’s digital transformation across the finance and energy sectors.
Speaking on the timeliness of the workshop, Airtel Nigeria’s Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Dinesh Balsingh said, “From power and water to finance, transportation, and logistics, this is a defining moment for every sector. The real question isn’t whether to adopt digital solutions, but how quickly and intelligently we can do so. At Airtel Nigeria, we’re moving beyond basic connectivity and becoming a true digital partner to the industries we serve.”
He highlighted Airtel’s categories of enterprise solutions that has been created to improve quality of life. These groupings include Internet of Things (IoT) for such services as smart metering, leak detection, energy optimisation, and real-time asset tracking; Communications Platform as a Service (CPaaS), which enables secure, multi-channel customer engagement via SMS, WhatsApp, Voice, and USSD; as well asl Network as a Service (NaaS), which delivers flexible, secure connectivity with cloud-ready agility.
Mr. Balsingh added that, “Nigeria’s power and energy industries are under growing pressure to modernise. Legacy infrastructure, fragmented systems, and lack of real-time visibility are major obstacles. Airtel is stepping in with the right tools, not just to connect, but to transform. With IoT, CPaaS, and NaaS, we’re laying the groundwork for smarter operations, improved service delivery, and better outcomes for businesses and consumers alike.”
Abhishek Biswal, Chief Business Officer, Digital Services at Airtel India, brought substantial insight to the discourse with a demonstration of Airtel’s IoT Hub and its transformative impact on energy distribution.
Biswal said, “The future of finance and energy is digital, and that future must be secure, scalable, and seamless. When financial players and utility providers partner with telcos like Airtel, we’re not just connecting systems; we’re building a smarter digital ecosystem for everyone.”
Reinforcing the CEO’s position, Ogo Ofomata, Director, Airtel Business, called for collaboration among the participating sector and their stakeholders.
“We don’t take lightly the trust you have put in us. Airtel operates in what we call the enabler industry. Sometimes we don’t even know there’s a problem until we come together like this. This workshop is about understanding your needs and working side by side to design solutions that truly fit,” she said.
In his remarks, Luc Serviant, Group Enterprise Business Director at Airtel Africa, highlighted the company’s role in driving digital transformation through sustained investments in 5G and LEO satellite connectivity, aimed at boosting remote operations and expanding access in underserved regions across the finance and energy sectors.
He said, “At Airtel, we understand that the future of is going digital, and reliable connectivity is the backbone of that future. From 5G to LEO satellite integration, we are investing in intelligent infrastructure that empowers service providers to operate more efficiently, respond in real-time, and deliver uninterrupted services to millions of Nigerians. This isn’t just about innovation; it’s about building the digital foundation that will power the nation’s next chapter.”
This workshop, which continues the series of sectoral engagements within Nigeria’s growing economy, concluded with feedback from stakeholders who called for the inclusion of regulatory bodies such as the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) in future editions.
The Credit Fund of the AfCFTA Adjustment Fund has successfully closed its first investment, committing $10 million to Telecel Global Services Ltd, through a senior secured amortising loan.
The transaction marks a significant milestone in the operationalisation of the Fund. The Credit Fund is one of three Funds under the AfCFTA Adjustment Fund, established by the AfCFTA Secretariat and African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) to provide targeted transitional support to AfCFTA State Parties and private sector entities as they adjust to the requirements and opportunities presented by the AfCFTA Agreement.
Telecel Global Services, a subsidiary of the Mauritius based Telecel Group, provides wholesale voice and SMS services and enterprise connectivity solutions to more than 250 telecoms operators across Africa and globally.
With digital connectivity being at the heart of the trade and economic integration and success of the AfCFTA, this facility will support Telecel’s expansion in Ghana and Liberia, strengthen its infrastructure, and contribute to bridging Africa’s digital divide through enhanced connectivity and digital inclusion.
By investing in digital infrastructure in underserved markets, the Fund is helping reduce trade barriers, foster cross-boarder productivity and accelerate inclusive industrialization. Mr. Jean-Louis Ekra, Chairman of the Board of the AfCFTA Adjustment Fund Corporation, stated: “
The closing of our first deal marks a historic milestone for the Credit Fund and the broader vision of the AfCFTA.
This US$10 million investment in Telecel Global Services is a clear demonstration of how targeted capital can drive meaningful impact—accelerating digital connectivity, enabling intraAfrican trade, and supporting private sector-led development in priority sectors.
It is our commitment to ensure that such investments continue to bridge critical gaps, stimulate economic resilience, and unlock Africa’s vast potential.”
H.E. Wamkele Mene, Secretary-General of the AfCFTA Secretariat, noted: “This transaction demonstrates how the AfCFTA Adjustment Fund is beginning to serve its intended purpose – supporting State Parties and the private sector as we work to make this Agreement commercially meaningful.
By investing in digital infrastructure, we are addressing some of the most critical enablers of trade facilitation, industrialisation, and regional value chain development.”
Prof. Benedict Oramah, President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Afreximbank, added: “Today, we make another bold statement of our unwavering intent to ensure that Africans reap the benefits of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement.
We are proud to have commenced the operationalisation of the Credit Fund. With this Fund, we will provide vital support to African corporates, helping them retool and expand their operations necessary to capitalise on the AfCFTA opportunities.
The investment strengthens a critical enabler, the digital economy and regional connectivity, while reinforcing our long-term commitment to transforming the structure of the African economy.”
Marlene Ngoyi, CEO, FEDA, the Fund Manager of the AfCFTA Adjustment Fund, said: “This investment exemplifies the strategic intent of the Credit Fund – to catalyse growth and resilience in sectors that are vital for Africa’s structural transformation.
We are proud to partner with Telecel, whose operations directly advance intra-African connectivity and digital trade.”
The Credit Fund will continue to prioritise commercially viable investments that enable trade, support diversification, and promote inclusive growth in line with the broader AfCFTA implementation agenda.
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