TOWARDS A BETTER NIGERIA: PRIKKLE ACADEMY DISRUPTS BARRIERS OF CREATIVENESS FOR EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY

Prikkle Academy is a rural innovation hub in Kwara state that stimulates and inspires young people to collaborate, in order to identify social problems within their community, and employ design thinking approach to solve those problems through virtual and peer to peer learning.

The organization aims to remove all barriers that make it difficult for learning to be transformed into action, as it is their belief that quality, tailored, relevant and anticipated education is the bedrock for any sustainable development in the world.

However, the nonprofit’s aspiration is to create enabling environment for equal innovative opportunities to benefit both literates and illiterates to be able to create jobs and build community solutions that can be sustained for the next generation.

The process employs to achieve this by walking every participant that comes to the Academy through what they called “gift identification”; by this, they highlight the natural gifts of the head (knowledge), the gifts of the hand (skills) and the gift of the heart (passion).

And based on different fun exercises and questions, each participant is able to uncover the stories of their life — especially the successes they have had no matter how little.

Then they help them to take the front seat and drive the conversation around how they have used the gifts they have to get results in the past. It is from this list of their gifts and record of success that they are able to move them to a point where they want to solve bigger problems with the gifts they have been underrating.

Conversely, for the past years of its existence, the hub has designed projects such as programmed Automatic teller Machine, innovative Television Studio, Auto Dustbin, sitting room chair, all made from waste like tire, bamboo stick, cartoon, and plastics.

They have also impacted 3 Nigeria communities, in Ogun, Kwara and Benue State. Hence, creating an impact in over 3000 children from across 7 different schools in the country.

Nonetheless, prikkle Academy has also shared these innovative ideas and many more with their partners; Loss of Generality in Ireland; MollyFrank Nigeria Limited, Afon Volunteer Initiatives, MindTheGap, IBuildNigeria, the Pollination Project in the USA and some underserved communities Africa countries like Kenya, Uganda, and Ghana.

To suffix the above, therefore, the Academy owing to their amazing projects and creativities, they have been accepted in several local, national and international programs in the past 3 years that they started.

Some of these include — 2018 Fellow, Global People’s Fellowship, USA; 2017 Canvassity Fellow, Abuja, Nigeria; 2018 African Changemakers Fellowship; 2017 Fellow, Dalai Lama Fellows, California, USA; Fellow, Social Innovators Programme, LEAP Africa, Lagos, Nigeria; Country Director, IOBE-Nigeria; 2018 Leadership Fellow at Service Space; Recipient, 2018 Talent of the Future Award, Lagos and World Top 100 Social Entrepreneurs (Social Enablers, India); Nominee for 2018 Muhammad Ali Humanitarian Award and 2018 Gratitude Award amongst other incentives to their credit.