SeedDev and Dzeuls Foundation did it again, and we are not stopping anytime soon. Saturday, 21st June 2025, it was the continuation of a journey, last year we trained, mentored and graduated the first cohort of participants, and they are doing phenomenal, this year we decided to take it a notch higher by swapping interactive boards for keyboards and turning curiosity into creativity for about 300+ kids. For most of the kids, this wasn’t just about learning to use a system; it was their first time writing code, exploring artificial intelligence with ChatGPT, and seeing themselves as creators. It marked the first time they realized they could build, design, and contribute to the digital world. 30 children per batch for 10 batches, and the kids were stretched from learning digital basics like typing and mouse navigation, to writing 4 lines of code in HTML. They explored AI through ChatGPT, and we took pictures of them and converted them using prompts. They even got a taste of virtual reality when the VR headsets came on, every kid had that look on their face that screamed with amazement. Some laughed, some cried, but all were in awe. For many, it was their first time experiencing a world beyond their physical environment. Our curators worked patiently, helping kids overcome shyness and fear of damaging devices. There were challenges, but the breakthrough was greater. By the end of the day, over 180 kids had used a computer for the first time. More than 250 had written their first lines of code, and they had begun to see themselves as part of the tech future. Ijero Tech Day 2025 wasn’t just a program. It was a spark. SeedDEV and Dzuels Foundation remain committed to continuing this journey, reaching more kids, telling more stories, and opening more doors. One kid. One system. One future at a time.

On the 8th of January, 2025, we visited a school 347 km away from Lagos, in a small town in the southwestern part of Nigeria, named Imade College Owo, to kick off a project for students (aged 10-14) in public secondary schools in Nigeria to solve a problem in their school or community. The objective of the project is to promote student's critical thinking and problem-solving skills on AI and Machine Learning concepts using PictoBlox. Mutembei Kariuki, CEO of Fastagger, highlights that AI/ML's role in handling routine tasks can elevate teachers to serve more as mentors, enhancing the overall educational experience. Despite its potential, the adoption of Artificial intelligence and machine learning in African education systems faces challenges. At Imade College Owo, we selected 50 students across SS1 and SS2 to participate. They were broken into 10 teams, each working on a project throughout the training. They had to start from the basics, and we covered a detailed curriculum step by step to help them learn effectively. After a period of 8 weeks, the students were able to create projects such as a machine learning model using image classification, a system using face recognition that can detect different facial expressions, and an AI-powered virtual assistant that can respond to basic questions or perform simple tasks based on user commands. The ripple effect started when they started to train their other classmates, build simple projects that were relevant in the context of their vicinity and implement them for real-life cases. Students at Imade College Owo are on a roll, and they are pulling their weight to build 40 more projects before the end of the academic session.

The most asked question and most said statement while we were at Victory College, Ikare, was: "Do you understand? Let me know if you want me to go over it again!" Our mission was to introduce the students to the world of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) using PictoBlox. We worked with 50 students, a diverse mix of male and female, both creative and technical, quiet and hyperactive — dividing them into ten teams to ensure hands-on learning and collaboration. We started from the very basics: defining AI and its real-world applications and understanding the importance of AI in today's world. Introducing Machine Learning, its types (supervised, unsupervised, and reinforcement learning), and its applications. With this solid foundation, the students were ready to embark on their own AI-powered projects. Each team took on a unique project that tackled real-world problems in their school or community: Team 1 - Alpha: Detecting Bad Fruits Using AI. Team 2 - Bravo: Interactive Classroom Information Display Using Finger Gestures. Team 3 - Delta: Interactive Classroom Items Learning Using Object Detection. Team 4 - Echo: AI Chatbot for Mental Health Advice & Support. Team 5 - Foxtrot: Interactive School History Chatbot. Team 6 - Golf: Interactive Town Information Chatbot. Team 7 - Kilo: Smart Attendance System with Face Recognition. Team 8 - Oscar: Determining Weather Conditions Using AI. Team 9 - Sierra: Detecting Plant Health Using AI. Team 10 - Quebec: Sorting Recyclable Materials Using AI. Beyond just learning AI concepts, our goal was to empower these students to think outside the box—analyzing everyday challenges and solving them in innovative, analytical, and creative ways. And we did exactly that. The excitement, curiosity, and enthusiasm from the students confirmed one thing: The future of AI in Nigeria is bright, and we will start with young minds like these.

Hi there, Never forget this. You are in your hands. Everything you will grow up to become or not is your choice to make. You are responsible for your own growth. You are the driver and your passenger. No risk is too big, no mountain too high, and no seas too deep if you choose and commit to a dream. No one owes you anything, but if you do your best every time, the universe will conspire to give you all the luck it has to make sure you succeed. So, kid, never forget, that you are your first and biggest responsibility. That’s how you change the world. Love, Praise Philemon

100 girls from secondary schools in Ondo State were trained for four weeks during the project. In the first week of the training, the girls were trained on computer Appreciation, which covered basic history and evolution of computers, the hardware and software components of a system, the components that make up a system, Input and Output devices and their functions and uses. It was an exciting week for the girls as most of them have not had to work with computer systems before the training. The training project would last for four weeks with various courses designed to introduce computational thinking and programming to the girls.

2 day bootcamp for selected secondary school student in Akampa, Cross River State. Nigeria. The aim of the bootcamp was to expose these kids to logic and object oriented programming (Python, Php and c#)