This app developer is giving displaced young Nigerians an educational lifeline

Ahmad Aminu has been too frightened to advance his formal education. Though the 17-year-old finished secondary school and would like to go to college near his village in Zamfara state, this region of northwestern Nigeria bears the brunt of attacks by bandits who kidnap students for ransom.

“All the big schools are in the forest,” Mr. Aminu says by phone in Hausa, the dominant local language. “So many of us aren’t willing to take that risk.”

Last year, for example, armed gangs stormed three hostels used by Federal University Gusau on the outskirts of Zamfara, abducting a few dozen students. Earlier this year, a boy was killed and two people were kidnapped in an attack on Mr. Aminu’s remote village, Dalba. “The bandits almost entered our home,” he recalls. “It was about midnight, when most people were asleep.”

But for the past year, Mr. Aminu has found a different way to further his education. Using the Flowdiary e-learning platform at home, he has been able to take – for free, or at very little cost – courses in various digital skills in Hausa. He is becoming a well-known graphic designer within the community surrounding Dalba.

“The payment depends,” says Mr. Aminu, the excitement clear in his voice. Designing an invitation card, for example, earns him about 2,000 Nigerian nairas, about $1.25; doing video editing, up to 3,000 nairas.

“In a month, I make as much as 30,000 naira,” he says. “I really thank God.” His mother makes almost 50,000 nairas a month running a convenience store from their home, and his brother earns the same installing solar panels.

Mr. Aminu is the sort of student whom Muhammad Auwal Ahmad had in mind when he created Flowdiary two years ago as a 23-year-old attending Federal University Gashua in northeastern Yobe state. He says Flowdiary now has more than 8,000 students enrolled from far-flung, impoverished areas across northern Nigeria; on average, almost one-fifth of those are active weekly users. The platform’s name refers to opportunities flowing to young people who might not normally have them.

“We have students from regions affected by terrorism and banditry ... that we train and mentor,” Mr. Ahmad says, noting that students who speak only Hausa struggle to find online courses in digital skills in their language.

An early dream fulfilled

Mr. Ahmad’s dream began in Bayamari, a village in Yobe state that has only two small schools, a health center, and a police outpost. As a curious tween growing up there, Mr. Ahmad started researching digital technology when his father brought home a mobile phone and, later, a computer. Gradually, Mr. Ahmad started troubleshooting and soon had ambitious digital goals.

“The thought of how to create something like Google or Wikipedia never left my mind,” he says.

After unsuccessful attempts at building a couple of online businesses as an undergraduate computer science student, Mr. Ahmad set up Flowdiary in March 2022. It started as a team of tutors, who included some of his friends, teaching digital skills on Telegram to other young people across northern Nigeria at low cost.

By that November, students could access the Flowdiary website. In February 2023, the app’s release became official. Paying as little as 1,200 nairas per course, students could register to learn web development, graphic design, and other digital skills. Tutors net half of the proceeds from course fees, and the rest goes toward operational costs such as maintaining the app and helping link Flowdiary students with career opportunities, Mr. Ahmad explains.

Registered as a business, not as a nonprofit, Flowdiary has struggled to find other funding and has been unable to acquire office space for its tutors and activities such as mentorship program events. But Mr. Ahmad says he is set to obtain some much-needed funding after winning the 2024 Yobe State Research and Innovation Challenge, a prestigious regional competition organized by the Biomedical Science Research and Training Center of Yobe State University, in partnership with Yobe’s state government.

Babazau Larema, administrative officer for the center, says Flowdiary is making an impact in society. “This is why they won,” he explains. Flowdiary also has clear evidence of teamwork because it resulted from the efforts of 10 tutors, rather than having been started by one person who built it up alone, Mr. Larema notes.

A learning lifeline

In 2011, Al’amin Dalha Suleiman and his seven family members abandoned their home in Maiduguri, the capital of northeastern Borno state, because of the Boko Haram insurgency there. They fled to Kano, more than 500 kilometers (about 310 miles) away, mourning the deaths of neighbors and friends as well as the loss of the family’s hat shop. But discrimination in Kano against outsiders forced them to return three years later to Maiduguri, where Mr. Suleiman struggled to revive the family business. He hawked yams on the side, and then offered manicures, a mobile service that earned him a paltry 50 nairas per customer because he lacked expertise. He has only a secondary school education.

Through a friend on Facebook, Mr. Suleiman heard last year about Flowdiary. He enrolled in several courses, including video editing, web development, and graphic design. There was a major challenge, though – the need for wireless data and a laptop. For months, Mr. Suleiman struggled to finish the courses over his phone, but the payoff – the skills he has acquired – has been worth it.

“I’m trying to build an app right now,” he says proudly.

Turning skills into careers

Mr. Ahmad currently teaches computer science in northwestern Kebbi state as part of his National Youth Service Corps requirement. His vision after the one-year program is to expand the Flowdiary platform to reach more young people and – crucially – to help them grow their skills into careers.

The end of online training for each student does not necessarily mean goodbye at Flowdiary. The Flowdiary team recently set up a mentoring and internship program; any student who takes a course can apply to work with companies that Flowdiary has forged a relationship with. As of late September, 20 students had secured internships – including two with Abdul Gusau, the owner of Abdoul Shoe Ventures in Zamfara.

“It is impressive to see how effective Flowdiary is through the work the interns are putting in my store,” Mr. Gusau says. “The graphic designer has not yet entered the intermediate class, and yet his work is excellent. The same goes for the social media manager, who runs effective ads.”

Mr. Ahmad takes pride in such feedback. At a recent meetup with a few Flowdiary students and tutors in Kano, he sports a cap and T-shirt with the Flowdiary logo. He says he hopes that the future for Flowdiary’s students, especially those with internships, is bright.

“We are hoping some of those companies will retain them,” Mr. Ahmad says. “My [first] goal is to impact youngsters like myself so they can develop. The second is helping them find direction.”