Where poverty blocks the door, technology breaks a window

…Students in Lagos village fight to stay connected

Okun-Ajah Community Senior Secondary School is situated in a place where electricity is a luxury, laptops are scarce, and poverty dictates the rhythm of life, yet students are daring to chase the future.

“You can see that our school is serene, very conducive. For us to be selected as one of the schools to roll out the Nigerian Learning Passport (NLP) is a great privilege,” principal Bridget Oyedele told BD Weekender.

It does not take long to realise that behind that pride lies a daily struggle, a battle fought with outdated computers, flickering power, and the harsh realities of rural education. Yet it is also a battle strengthened by the quiet resilience of teachers and the hunger of students eager to join a world racing ahead.

“Education is a passport, and technology makes it possible for every child, either rich or poor, to reach the world,” Oyedele said.

To her, the Nigerian Learning Passport, a digital learning platform backed by the federal government in collaboration with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), is more than software. It is a window for her students, many of whom have never left the village, to see what lies beyond the ocean that borders their school.

“The innovations we see today, the technology, these digital tools… they open wide corridors of exposure for our children. What we see today is a testament to the power of digital learning. Most of us didn’t have these opportunities growing up, but our students now benefit from them,” she added.

Innovation meets harsh reality

But every innovation that reaches the school arrives burdened by the weight of the community’s challenges.

“There is no stable electricity in this village. Even when we try to empower ourselves, we rely on fuel. And fuel today is expensive. Parents do not fully understand how these technologies can lift their children out of poverty, so buying devices is difficult,” a teacher who asked not to be named tells BD Weekender.

In Okun-Ajah’s computer laboratory, there is more dust than digital capacity. Some computers are so old that teachers jokingly call them first-generation fossils.

“Many of them are obsolete. The school does not have enough computers. Some students don’t even have Android phones,” the teacher says.

However, one of the few students who owns a functional phone is Divine Chioma Ikechukwu, an SS3 student whose calm confidence belies the hurdles she faces.

“The Nigerian Learning Passport has changed my life. When I don’t understand a topic in class, I go there for explanations. Before, I could read three textbooks and still score maybe 80 percent. Now I study faster and understand better,” she said.

Ikechukwu uses the Learning Passport as a personal tutor, breaking down complex topics in physics and chemistry. But her experience is not shared by many.

“I have a personal phone, but many students don’t. Some can’t even find where to charge their phones. That is the real problem,” she said.

Adewoye Emmanuel Ayomide, her classmate, agrees. “The Nigerian Learning Passport has helped us a lot. Unlike some apps that don’t explain concepts well, the Learning Passport is different. It is very educational. We learn a lot from it,” he said.

Across the school, curiosity is high, but access is painfully low. Students share phones, sit close to the windows for better light, and race against sunset to complete digital tasks before darkness turns the community into a quiet, powerless silhouette.

“We don’t have stable electricity. Without power, we cannot use computers or systems to access the Learning Passport. We need standard ICT equipment. We want to learn,” says Okejevwa-Frank Wisdom, another SS3 student.

A Village that refuses to stand still

Despite these challenges, Okun-Ajah is not entirely alone. In this community, survival is communal, and progress is collective.

“We leverage outside stakeholders because these children are our children. When they do well, we all do well,” principal Oyedele said.

Support has trickled in from foundations, old students, and organisations such as the Sean and Tara Ajayi Foundation, which continues to invest in the school’s welfare.

The Parent Forum, Okun-Ajah’s version of a PTA, remains active, offering both moral support and small but meaningful financial interventions.

Corporate partners have also stepped in. MainOne recently provided a solar inverter and pledged to paint the school. Talks are ongoing for the development of a digital library. “We keep reaching out. If we get it right with these children, society benefits,” Oyedele averred.

A National push that offers hope

Across Nigeria, the digital learning movement is gathering momentum. At a two-day media dialogue, Celine Lafoucriere, UNICEF chief of Lagos field office, revealed that the Nigerian Learning Passport has already reached more than two million children and young people across 21 states, including 62,000 girls and women who have completed digital courses.

“We must prepare young people for jobs that do not exist yet. We need to close the gender gap and reach the most marginalised,” Lafoucriere said.

Her words echo strongly in a village like Okun-Ajah, where marginalisation is not an abstract concept, but a daily lived reality.

State officials also acknowledge the urgency. Martins Opeyemi, director of planning, policy, research and statistics at the Lagos State Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education, said digital learning has been fully embedded into the school curriculum under the THEMES Agenda.

“For us, digital learning is not optional. It is the foundation for every child’s future,” he said.

At Okun-Ajah Community Senior Secondary School, about 600 students are determined to keep that foundation intact, despite electricity shortages, device scarcity, and the everyday challenges of rural life.

For them, technology is not just a tool. It is a chance to rewrite their future.

A window has been opened. And even if poverty blocks the door, these students, armed with a single phone, an outdated laptop, or a shared solar inverter, are determined to climb through it.

Royal Ibeh is a senior journalist with years of experience reporting on Nigeria’s technology and health sectors. She currently covers the Technology and Health beats for BusinessDay newspaper, where she writes in-depth stories on digital innovation, telecom infrastructure, healthcare systems, and public health policies.

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