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In a bold move to nurture the next generation of changemakers, Teach For Nigeria (TFN) has joined forces with the Oando Foundation, Enterprise Development Centre, and Wema Bank to empower social innovators across the country.
This strategic partnership aims to equip young leaders with the skills, resources, and support needed to drive transformative solutions in education and beyond, fostering a new wave of grassroots impact across Nigeria’s communities.
The organisation hosted the 2025 edition of its Incubation Hub Pitch Competition, an initiative designed to empower alumni of the TFN Fellowship Programme to transform their “Be The Change” projects into scalable social enterprises.
The event, held in Lagos, brought together key stakeholders, industry leaders, and partners to witness 12 pioneering alumni showcase innovative solutions aimed at solving Nigeria’s most pressing education challenges.
Molade Adeniyi, chief executive officer oat Teach For Nigeria, in her remarks, highlighted the significance of the incubation hub as a driver of systemic change.
“The incubation hub was launched as part of Teach For Nigeria’s commitment to empowering our alumni to lead change beyond the fellowship. Its purpose is to support the growth and scale of early-stage social innovations that address systemic challenges in education.
Earlier this year, we welcomed 30 outstanding early-stage social entrepreneurs, carefully selected from a competitive pool of 87 applicants. Over the last three months, participants have received enterprise development training, mentorship, and strategic support to refine their ideas into scalable and sustainable solutions,” she said.
Adeniyi further emphasised the hub’s long-term impact, noting that since its launch in 2020, the programme has supported over 60 education-focused projects, disbursed more than N10 million in seed funding, and impacted over 2,500 educators and 15,000 children across Nigeria.
According to Adeniyi, the 2025 cohort featured 12 initiatives across five focus areas, such as EdTech and digital learning, Gender inclusive education, Climate change and environment, Teacher and school development, and Data-driven education and policy.
Victoria Peregrino, chairman of Lagos State Teaching Service Commission, in her goodwill message, praised TFN’s efforts.
“Teach For Nigeria Fellows make a difference wherever we post them. They identify the challenges impeding students’ learning outcomes and find ways to make the best out of these challenges. You are doing a very good job and building the next generation of leaders,” Peregrino said.
The grand finale featured pitches from the 12 innovators to a distinguished panel of judges: Tracy Akpofure, operations manager at Oando Foundation; Daniel Emenahor, head of higher education at British Council; Solomon Ayodele, head of product & technology Innovation at WEMA Bank, represented by Azeez Abdulyekeen; and Josephine Ewitat, COO at Alpha Michelle Appraisals Limited.
The 2025 Pitch Competition crowned Adetomiwa Awofeso, founder of Scholaride Initiative, as the winner for his innovative solution addressing literacy and numeracy gaps in Makoko through community learning hubs and the teaching at the right level methodology.
Olayinka Adeosun of STEAM Dock emerged as first runner-up, while Emmanuel Epueme of CareerLab clinched the second runner-up position.
The incubation hub, the organisers emphasised, will continue to run annually, serving as a platform to empower TFN alumni to grow their enterprises, unlock new opportunities, and advance education equity in Nigeria.
