Country of Residence
Nigeria
Age
19
Project title
Beyond Books Africa
Project Summary: Describe your project in one sentence
Beyond Books Africa gives Nigerian students, from secondary school through university, free exam preparation, career exposure, mentorship and leadership development, closing the gap between being in school and having what it takes to build a future beyond it.
Website URL(s) or social media handles.
https://www.instagram.com/beyondbooksafrica/
Project Category
My project is an existing project that I started
Project Stage
Established (We have regular weekly or monthly impact that we are reliably measuring)
Founding Story: What was the spark that led you to start your project? What was the "Aha!" moment that led you to get started and see the potential for this to succeed?
I volunteered at an outreach organised for the International Day of the Boy Child, where I interacted with students in a public secondary school in my local community. During the interaction, I asked the students who wanted to become doctors. No hands went up. I asked about lawyers. Still none. I asked about nurses. Again, no hands. Then I asked them what they actually wanted to become. I heard things like carpenter, vulcanizer and other occupations they had probably seen around them. That moment stayed with me. There was nothing wrong with those occupations, but I began to wonder why their dreams seemed to stop at what they could see around them. I realised that a young person's environment can shape their mental model of what is possible. When you are rarely exposed to different careers, people, opportunities and pathways, it becomes difficult to imagine yourself in places you have never seen. I wanted young people to dream beyond their immediate environment and have the support to pursue those dreams. That was what led me to start Beyond Books Africa, beginning with Apex Free UTME Tutorials in 2023, free exam preparation for students who could not afford private lessons. Over time this grew into the Clarity Project, exposing students to career paths and possibilities, and support such as sponsoring UTME registration fees for students who could not oth
The Problem: What problem are you helping to solve? Why does it matter to you and your community?
I came to understand this problem through my interactions with students in my community. While volunteering in a public secondary school, I asked students about the careers they wanted to pursue. The responses made me realise how strongly a young person's environment can influence what they believe is possible. My work with students has since shown me that the challenge goes beyond limited exposure. Many students also lack the resources and opportunities needed to act on their potential. I have encountered students preparing for national examinations who could not afford registration fees, as well as students with little access to structured exam preparation, career guidance or mentorship. Solving this matters to me because I have seen what happens when a young person finally gets the right access. One opportunity can change what a student believes is possible, but the effect does not have to stop with that student. When young people receive the support they need and eventually become capable and confident, they can create opportunities for others too. That creates a cycle where access is passed forward and more people are able to move beyond the limitations of their immediate environment. That is why I work to provide free exam preparation, career exposure, mentorship and leadership development, while also sponsoring examination registration fees such as UTME and WAEC
Your Solution: How are you solving this problem? Share your specific solution.
Beyond Books Africa addresses the problem through four practical interventions. First, free examination preparation. Through Free UTME Tutorials, students access free UTME lessons and preparation resources online, removing the cost barrier private tutorials would otherwise impose. Since 2023, the programme has supported over 6,000 students across Nigeria. Second, removing financial barriers to sitting examinations at all. We identify students who cannot afford national examination registration fees and sponsor them directly. In 2026, we sponsored UTME registration for 30 students who would not otherwise have been able to sit the exam. Third, career exposure and mentorship taken directly into schools. Through the Clarity Project, we have worked across 15 public secondary schools, reaching over 3,000 students through career conversations, interactive sessions and mentorship, introducing them to pathways they may not encounter within their immediate community. Fourth, sustained leadership development for young people who want to build beyond academic performance, extending to private secondary schools and university students through structured mentorship, communication practice and guided decision-making, currently working more intensively with around 100 students across the Pathway Initiative. These four interventions map onto four distinct barriers: not having access to quality preparation, not being able to afford registration, not knowing what opportunities exist, and not having anyone to guide the decisions that follow. Most of these barriers are invisible until you sit in a classroom and ask students what they want to become. Beyond Books Africa exists because that conversation should not depend on which school a student happens to attend.
Impact: How has your project created impact / made a difference so far? Or, if at an early stage, what will impact look like?
Since 2023, Beyond Books Africa has supported young people through programmes addressing academic preparation, career exposure and access to educational opportunities. Our Free UTME Tutorials have provided free UTME preparation to more than 6,000 students across Nigeria, and over the last three years, students from these programmes have gone on to secure admission into tertiary institutions they might not have reached without structured preparation support. Through the Clarity Project, we have reached more than 3,000 students across 20 public secondary schools in Nigeria, helping them make informed career choices rather than decisions shaped only by what they have seen around them. We have also removed direct financial barriers to sitting national examinations, sponsoring registration for more than 70 students since we began this support. The impact is not only in the numbers. It is in the student who can sit for an examination because the fee was covered, the student who discovers a career they had never considered, and the student who prepares for UTME without paying for private lessons they could not afford. Our work has shown that access multiplies. When a young person receives the right information, support or opportunity at the right moment, they are better positioned to use it, and often to create that same opportunity
Your Innovation: What is different about your project compared to other programs or solutions already out there? How is your project new or innovative?
What makes Beyond Books Africa different is that we address the underlying barriers behind limited opportunity, rather than only responding to their immediate effects. Most existing academic support in our context focuses on one intervention at a time: another set of past questions, a single scholarship, a one-day career talk. But a student who performs poorly in an examination may need more than better materials. They may lack quality preparation, career information, mentorship, financial support, or someone to help them understand what comes next. Treating these as separate problems, solved by separate, disconnected programmes, is part of why the gap persists. Our approach starts with exposure. Through the Clarity Project, we interact directly with students in public secondary schools, introducing them to careers, people and educational pathways beyond what they typically encounter in their immediate environment. We then provide practical support through free UTME preparation and examination registration sponsorship for students facing financial barriers. We also do not let our relationship with students end after a single event. We engage them over time through mentorship and leadership development, following their progress and helping them build the confidence and skills to eventually navigate opportunities more independen
How many people are on your team?
11
Your team: What role(s) do your team members play? How do you share leadership with them?
Beyond Books Africa operates through leads across programmes, secondary education, leadership development, communications, partnerships, operations, finance and administration. I set overall direction as Executive Director, but leadership is distributed: each lead owns their function, makes implementation decisions and manages their own team members. We coordinate through a shared calendar, regular leadership meetings and clear boundaries on who owns what. I focus on delegation and giving leads.
What’s Next: What are the next steps you plan to take to grow or strengthen your project over the next year? If your project is still in the idea stage, describe the steps you will take over the next three months to launch or begin developing it.
Over the next year, I plan to strengthen and expand the programmes that Beyond Books Africa already runs. First, we will expand the Clarity Project to more public secondary schools, building on our work with over 3,000 students across 15 schools. We will develop a more structured curriculum covering career exposure, educational pathways, decision-making and mentorship, rather than relying mainly on one-off sessions. Second, we will strengthen the Pathway Initiative and our free UTME preparation by reaching more students who cannot afford private tutorials or examination fees. We will also build a clearer process for identifying students who need financial support and connecting them to available opportunities. Third, I want to build a structured mentorship system that allows us to follow students beyond a single intervention. We will document students' participation, needs and progress so that support can be more consistent and targeted. Finally, we will grow our partnerships with schools, educators, youth organisations and potential funders, specifically to fund examination sponsorships and curriculum development, to increase the resources available to students. Our goal is not simply to reach more students, but to build a model that can support them from exposure, to preparation, to access, and eventually to independence.
How do you encourage other people to join your project or learn about the problem you’re working on? If you have a new idea, tell us how you will do this in the future.
I encourage people to join Beyond Books Africa by giving them clear ways to contribute and real ownership, rather than simply asking them to volunteer. At my university, I built a community service network of over 200 students, giving me a pool of young people already willing to contribute to causes beyond themselves. I have also trained and worked with student leaders through leadership and development programmes, so mobilising people around a clear problem is something I have real experience doing. Within Beyond Books Africa, around 50 volunteers and team members are currently involved across programme planning, school outreach, mentorship, communications and logistics. I delegate responsibilities, listen to their ideas, and let people take ownership of their areas, so they understand not only what we are doing, but why the problem matters. I also use our programmes to help students see themselves as contributors, not just beneficiaries. A student who receives support can later mentor another student, volunteer at an outreach, or share an opportunity with a peer. Over time, I want to build this into a larger network of student volunteers and alumni who can carry the work into their own schools and communities, so Beyond Books Africa creates more people who can carry it forward, rather than dep
