Badagry holds a special place in Nigeria\u2019s history. The town is home to the building widely regarded as the country\u2019s first storey house, finished in 1845. It is also tied to some of the earliest Christian missionary work and the start of formal Western education in Nigeria.<\/p>\n
For years, these landmarks have shaped how Badagry is remembered. But for David Onilude, a young founder from the town<\/strong>, the more pressing question is not what Badagry gave Nigeria\u2019s past. It is what its next generation can give Nigeria\u2019s future.<\/p>\n That question gets a live answer on Friday, 27 November 2026, when Badagry hosts its very first tech summit.<\/p>\n The Badagry Tech Summit, put together by Tech Now Global, will gather roughly 500 students, graduates, young founders, tech professionals, companies, public institutions and other stakeholders. Running under the theme The Next First, the event aims to offer something the town\u2019s rising builders have seldom had: a stage to showcase their ideas, a chance to meet people who can support them, and a bridge between their ambitions and real opportunities<\/strong>.<\/p>\n In 2020, with the COVID-19 lockdown keeping everyone indoors, David Onilude was not planning to build an organisation, let alone one that would one day host a tech summit. His mind was on his community.<\/p>\n He wanted the young people of Badagry to keep pace as technology reshaped the world around them, not watch it pass them by.<\/p>\n That belief pushed him, together with Kazeem Quadri, to run a free digital skills training in Apa, Badagry. There was no big structure and no grand plan. It was simply an effort to put knowledge and opportunity within reach of people who might otherwise have missed out. 300 people signed up for that first session, and 230 saw it through to the end.<\/p>\n What started as a simple answer to a local need grew into Tech Now Global, a youth-focused nonprofit working to expand access to digital skills, technology and economic opportunity.<\/p>\n Six years on, that same belief is still driving the work, only on a much bigger scale. Through digital literacy school tours, bootcamps, youth leadership programmes and more, Tech Now Global has recorded over 30,000 participations across 102 schools and 32 communities.<\/p>\n Onilude is a software engineer with more than eight years of experience and a co-founder of Beere Softwares. He is also a Diana Award recipient and an Ashoka Young Changemaker.<\/p>\n At the heart of the Badagry Tech Summit is the Badagry Builder Challenge, a project built to move young people from learning about technology to actually building solutions with it.<\/strong><\/p>\n Entries opened on 5 October and closed on 9 November 2026. Teams were asked to tackle real problems in their own communities across seven tracks, from education, health and agriculture to transport, money and community infrastructure.<\/p>\n Inclusion is baked into the rules. Every secondary-school team must be accompanied by a teacher, and every team must include at least two girls.<\/strong><\/p>\n Finalists will pitch their inventions live on the summit\u2019s main stage before a panel of judges that includes a representative from Oracle Academy. Three teams will walk away as winners.<\/strong><\/p>\n For Onilude, the point is to offer young people more than a seat at another tech event. He wants them to show what they can create, and to put that work in front of the people and institutions that can help them take it further.<\/p>\n Running from 10am to 4pm, the summit will be spread across six zones, each built around a different side of the tech and innovation ecosystem.<\/p>\n Main Stage<\/strong>: Talks, presentations and the final of the Badagry Builder Challenge.<\/p>\n Build Floor<\/strong>: An exhibition space where students and startups can demonstrate their projects.<\/p>\n AI Lab<\/strong>: Hands-on sessions introducing attendees to practical AI tools.<\/p>\n Career & Opportunity Hub<\/strong>: A space to connect with partners offering training, mentorship and opportunities.<\/p>\n Startup Arena<\/strong>: Activities focused on entrepreneurship and startup development.<\/p>\n The Network<\/strong>: A dedicated space for conversations, collaboration and professional connections.<\/p>\n Partners are also shaping the programme directly. Oracle Academy will run a hands-on session showing developers how to build an application. She Code Africa will speak on landing a first role in tech, and Caleb University\u2019s Centre for Entrepreneurship & Innovation will lead a session on testing ideas before building them. ARM, the Lagos-based investment firm, will take part on the main stage and keep a presence at the Career & Opportunity Hub.<\/p>\n The summit has the backing of Badagry Local Government, the Lagos State Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education and the National Board for Technology Incubation (NBTI).<\/em><\/p>\n Its partners include Oracle Academy, ARM, She Code Africa, Coderina, Caleb University, Technext and Nairametrics, the summit\u2019s Official Business Media Partner.<\/em><\/p>\n What Comes Next for Badagry?<\/p>\n The Badagry Tech Summit is Tech Now Global\u2019s biggest project to date, but the organisers do not see it as a one-day event. They see it as a starting point.<\/p>\n The plan is to make the summit an annual gathering, slowly building a platform where young people, businesses, institutions and tech stakeholders can keep meeting and building together.<\/p>\n For Onilude, the goal goes beyond placing Badagry on the tech map. He wants the young people who call the town home to have a real seat in the conversations, opportunities and innovations shaping the future.<\/p>\n \u201cThe next generation of Nigerian builders is already in Badagry. What they have never had is a stage,\u201d Onilude said. \u201cNigeria\u2019s firsts happened here. The next one will be built by the young people who live here.<\/strong><\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n Entry is free for secondary-school and university students with a school code.<\/p>\n To register and find out more, visit bts.technowglobal.org.<\/p>\n The Badagry Tech Summit is the town\u2019s first technology summit, hosted by Tech Now Global on Friday, 27 November 2026, in Badagry, Lagos State. Themed The Next First, it brings together students, graduates, young founders, companies, government institutions and partners across six zones, with the live final of the Badagry Builder Challenge at its heart.<\/p>\n Website: bts.technowglobal.org<\/p>\n Tech Now Global is a youth-focused nonprofit founded in Badagry, Lagos, in 2020 by David Onilude and Kazeem Quadri. It works to widen access to digital skills, technology and economic opportunities for young people. Its programmes have recorded more than 30,000 participations across 102 schools and 32 communities.<\/p>\n Source: <\/p>\n Badagry holds a special place in Nigeria\u2019s history. The town is home to the building widely regarded as the country\u2019s first storey house, finished in 1845. It is also tied… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16765","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-business"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16765","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16765"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16765\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16765"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16765"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16765"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}A Seed Planted in 2020<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Giving Young Builders a Stage<\/strong><\/h4>\n
More Than a Conference<\/strong><\/h4>\n
How to Attend<\/strong><\/h4>\n
About Badagry Tech Summit<\/strong><\/h4>\n
About Tech Now Global<\/strong><\/h4>\n