New Horizons Nigeria has launched a N50 million empowerment programme aimed at removing Almajiri children from the streets and equipping them with practical, income-generating technology skills, as part of efforts to address unemployment and national security concerns.
The initiative, tagged ‘Almajiris-to-Tech’, is a 90-day intensive training programme designed to transform Almajiri youths into certified computer and electronics technicians. The scheme, which forms part of the company’s corporate social responsibility, is scheduled to commence on January 19, 2026, at the New Horizons Training Centre in Abuja.
Speaking at the launch, Tim Akano, the managing director of New Horizons Nigeria, said the continued presence of Almajiri children on the streets reflects broader societal neglect rather than the failure of the children themselves. He said addressing the issue requires a mix of empowerment, reorientation and non-kinetic interventions rather than force.
According to Akano, participants will receive hands-on training in the repair and maintenance of laptops, desktops, mobile phones, televisions, projectors, radios, fans, inverters and other electronic devices.
The programme will also introduce beneficiaries to environmentally sustainable practices, including the reuse of scrap laptop batteries to build rechargeable fans, uninterruptible power supply systems and inverter batteries.
The first week of the programme will focus on mindset re-orientation, with structured sessions facilitated by a psychologist and an Islamic cleric, delivered in the Hausa language. Topics will include good citizenship, patriotism, discipline, hard work and peaceful coexistence, aimed at steering participants away from begging and violence.
The scheme will be implemented in two batches. Ten training slots have been allocated to the People Expertise and Excellence Foundation (PEEF), a non-governmental organisation focused on human capital development, while another ten slots have been allocated to Senator Solomon Olamilekan Adeola (Yayi), a long-time youth empowerment advocate.
Adeola has previously facilitated the training of over 5,000 youths through New Horizons Nigeria, and the current allocation is intended to extend similar interventions to Northern Nigeria.
At the end of the programme, graduates will be supported with market placement and provided with locations to operate as certified New Horizons Computer Technicians. The best graduating participant will receive full funding and a complete set of business tools to enable immediate independent practice. Throughout the training, New Horizons will also supply essential technical tools for practical sessions.
The N50 million funding commitment will cover feeding, logistics, training materials, branded clothing and working tools. New Horizons said the empowerment model builds on its previous involvement in large-scale interventions, including the Amnesty Programme under former President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and World Bank-supported youth empowerment initiatives.
A practical competition will be held at the end of the training, with participants divided into teams tasked with building and branding personal computers. Graduates will also be enrolled on a dedicated technical portal for post-training support.
New Horizons said a second phase of the Almajiri empowerment scheme is scheduled for the second quarter of 2026 and called on government agencies, NGOs and development partners to collaborate in scaling the programme’s impact.
“It is part of New Horizons practical contribution to the actualisation of the Renewed Hope agenda of the Tinubu’s administration, because as they say, ‘Devil finds work for idle hands’, therefore fixing the Almajiris problems is central to Nigeria’s overall national stability,” Akano stated.
