A non-governmental organisation, Juvenile Career Education (JuCE) Africa, has expressed commitment to ensuring that a typical Nigerian student has access to 21st century skills with ease.

The Founder of JuCE Africa, Adaeze Okeke, made this known at the 2025 JuCE Africa Bootcamp on Monday in Lagos.

Ms Okeke said that some career paths would be extinct in the next 15 years, adding that there was the need to equip students with lasting skills that would create value.

She said the organisation was passionate about providing opportunities and exposure for students to make lasting impacts.

She stated, “We can also make this happen when we collaborate with partners who see the value of what we are doing. JuCe is a non-governmental organisation that caters to secondary school students in Nigeria, and the primary aim is to equip the Nigerian student with exposure into diverse careers. A typical Nigerian student has knowledge about law, medicine, accountancy, and now, it is about tech; so, the issue is how they will get to these and other exciting career paths. We are here to equip them with the skills to take up the career paths of the 21st Century.’’

She said that the bootcamp would help the participants to have beyond-the-classroom experience that would enable them to acquire skills that would remain relevant in many years to come.

Ms Okeke said that the participants would be taken through training on leadership, problem-solving, entrepreneurship and communication.

“From the first day, the students will develop ideas. We want them to look at problems in their environments, find solutions and, more importantly, find ways they can get financial value from those solutions. The bootcamp creates curiosity in the mind of the student to see opportunities for growth and development,” she said.

According to Mr Okeke, fliers were sent to many secondary schools in Nigeria, particularly in Lagos State, in advertisement of the bootcamp.

She said, “We had entries from Enugu, Ibadan and Jos, and students from Ibadan and Enugu are here today. Out of over 119 applications, 31 students were selected. They were asked to write an essay.’’

Mr Okeke gave the assurance that there would be prizes to be won at the bootcamp as well as a tour of a radio station and other places.

She stated, “We have a monitoring and evaluation setup for tracking the students after the bootcamp, in terms of what they have learnt, where they record improvements, and how we can support them. JuCE has a bi-weekly programme where we have career presentations. We have pilots, robotics engineers, and they come to learn from them. We have talks on scholarship opportunities outside the country. For students who like robotics that is not taught in Nigeria, we can support them through our mentorship programme. We have contacts of the students and their schools and parents, and we will check on them and make sure they are part of our events.’’

(NAN)