CrispNG’s Youth of the Month: Engr Onyia, the Nigerian improving access to quality education
Charity, they say begins at home and Engineer Alex Onyia, the CEO of Educare, has proven to be a ‘’nwafor’’, son of the soil.
Eight months ago, Sultan of Software, as he his fondly called, took it upon himself to change the narrative in his village, as over 70% of youngsters in his village that sat for UTME orgainsed by JAMB failed the exam.
His initiative has significantly improved the situation as many of the students aced the 2024 UTME, generating accolades from all quarters.
Onyia is not a mystery, neither myth or legend, but a flesh and blood helping mankind through science and technology with a heart immersed in philanthropy directed at education.
Unveiling the man, Alex Onyia
When he steps into the room you won’t fail to recognise. His towering height, macho body, skin as dark as a humus soil sells him out. He is the perfect description of tall, dark and handsome. With arms built sturdily to bear the burdens of education and a smile that shines through it all. His signature outfit jean and tshirts also says let’s get to work.
Away from the physique, Alex Onyia is a man filled with compassion, a heart of rare gold especially when it comes to education. Tell him of a Treasure Okegbola and he comes running to preserve the bright talent. An Arome Audu would find possibility for his dreams when he steps into the room. An an Angel Alale would need not worry about funding for her university education.
You can call him minister of education of advocacy, as it’s not odd for him to be the voice of teachers, requesting that their reward is neither denied or delayed on earth. According to him poverty not lack of interest his the problem of Nigerian students.
The Sultan of Software as Educare CEO is fondly called adopted the title in March after 16 years of working with and investing in software including deep participation in Edtech, Fintech, AgriTech, HealthTech, PharmTech and Enterprise resource planning (ERP).
Here’s how “Obi” became a man in the education space
Alex Onyia, a proud Ngwo indigene, who graduated from UNN as an agricultural and bioresources engineer emerged from the loins of teacher and perhaps that fuelled his passion for education.
But, this had not been his path until 2014. Prior to the establishment of Educare, Onyia was a blogger. With “Babies are beautiful” he carved a niche for himself and established a huge present on Facebook garnering a followership of 8.7 million which as at 2016 made it the facebook page with the highest followership owned by a Nigerian. The page which was dedicated to posting beautiful baby pictures was however pulled down in 2017, driving 100% focus on Educare.
Educare is a leading education technology platform in Africa that’s serving more than 1 million students and 300 thousand parents. The initiative which started in 2014 has now expanded to have offices in Europe and the middle east with partnerships across different countries.
Alex Onyia prioritises education across board from equipping students through edutech, to conducting training for teachers, and providing scholarships especially for indigent students.
One may wonder how Onyia manages and funds Educare. You remember that blog right? Onyia invested 90% of his income as a blogger in establishing Educare and the rest is history, but he didn’t doing without people.
Onyia in an interview with CrispNG stated that this to say, “when you have the right human resources needed funding not be a problem, as when value is produced resources won’t be a problem. I’m glad that I have the right people working with me as they have contributed to the growth of the organisation. Although, when I started it was just funded from my income as a blogger.”
True to his words, Onyia sings the praises of his resource persons. He is ever passionate about his employees and their growth from Fatima Jadesola to Chimezie Aneke, Opeyemi who rose from cleaner to an intern, Julius who moved from being a chef to now become a Senior Java Script Developer and perhaps a lot more than we know.
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In a chat with Crisp Nigeria, Mr. Alex Onyia answered critical questions about the Nigerian educational system and shared his hopes for the future.
Do you think the educational system in Nigeria is where it should be?
Onyia: The educational system in Nigeria is far from where it should be. Educational investment in the country is not where it should be and with the available resources are being mismanaged by officers in public offices. Teachers are paid poorly, so there is no motivation to teach.
There also needs to be a total overhauling of the curriculum, we are far behind in terms of world class education, we need to create room for the youngsters to be able to compete and thrive on a global scale. I was glad when the University of Nigeria Nsukka announced that it was overhauling it’s curriculum to fit in AI. More of this is what we need in our educational system, and I must commend that move. Although the resources are not available yet, I believe it is a step in the right direction.
How do we solve the educational crisis in Nigeria, especially looking at the results of general exams Such as JAMB?
Onyia: We need to start taking action as individuals and as a community. 7 months ago, as a community, we took it upon ourselves to change the narrative in my village, as over 70% of youngsters in my village sat for JAMB UTME failed the exam the previous year, rather than wait for the government, we created a system that provided intensive morning and evening drills for prepare the students for this year’s exam, and the crucial problem of computer illiteracy was solved alongside. This effort has yielded fruit with many getting scores over 250 and few surpassing 300.
A young lad, Emmanuel Ihedioramma Ani, deferred his admission to study Mechatronics engineering at the Federal University of Technology Owerri (FUTO) to join the JAMB prep programme as a teacher, with the aim of getting a scholarship. The risk paid off as he scored 306 in the UTME and has been awarded a full scholarship worth 6 million.
Senator Osita Ngwu, seeing what we did, has also made a commitment to offer every youngster in my village who participated in the JAMB prep programme and scored below 300 partial scholarships into the university. He also wants to expand the programme across his senatorial zone for July.
Now that JAMB is over, the young people in my village are engaged in skills acquisition to keep them busy and generate value for themselves. In this past year, there was no report of unwanted pregnancy, cultism, thuggery, prostitution, or drug abuse among they youths as they have been engaged and these are the things I’m passionate about. You see that when the resources available the children thrive, and the society benefits from that. To solve this problem, we should look at putting in efforts as individuals and as a community and stop waiting for the government.
Do you believe youths these days do not believe in education?
Onyia: That something is popular, doesn’t mean it’s true. There are many people still very interested in education, compared to the ones who are not. The number of those who registered for JAMB alone is a pointer to that. The problem we have is poverty, there are millions of young people who want to receive good.
What’s that policy you hope to see in the education space and why?
Onyia: teachers should be enrolled into the system as master degree holders, then the teaching profession would be taken seriously. This would mean that those with BSC go back to equip themselves with better, thereby improving the quality of education.
What do you hope to achieve with Educare in the next five years?
Onyia: We hope to reach a lot more students and help improve their education quality even better than we are doing now.
What’s your advice to young Nigerians?
Onyia: Invest in education, try to get a good education, there are many doors you can open with education. I am what I am with the education I received, and I am grateful for it. Education is not a scam, it is better you have it and not need it, than need it and not have it. Also, Good character is a proof of good education, not necessarily your qualifications.
EDITOR’S NOTE: CrispNG’s Youth of the Month is an initiative to celebrate Nigerians bracing the odds and contributing positively to society. The recognition, which holds monthly, spotlights vibrant Nigerians who have either used their resources or skills to create value, while also inspiring others in the process.
