Our Story

Empowering the Future for 12 Years

Now Leading the Path to Peace

In 2012, a simple but powerful idea took shape in Ibadan, Nigeria. Today, that idea has grown into a movement reaching thousands of young people across five states — and entering a bold new chapter in peace education.

Where It All Began

Born From a Question, Built by a Community

In 2012, a simple but powerful idea began to take shape in Ibadan, Nigeria: what if Nigerian teenagers had early access to the right tools and experiences to shape their own futures?

From that question, Teens Going for Gold Network was born — first as a learning community for teenagers aged 13 to 21, before metamorphosing into a youth education nonprofit. TGFGN’s work was motivated by the belief that young people, when empowered with knowledge and opportunity, can transform not only their own lives but the future of their nation.

What began as a small initiative fuelled by passion and volunteer commitment from a group of teenagers has grown into a movement that has reached thousands of young people across Nigeria.

"Young people, when empowered with knowledge and opportunity, can transform not only their own lives but the future of their nation."

— TGFGN Founding Principle

Directly Empowered Through TGFGN Programmes
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Indirectly Reached Via publications & digital
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Years of Impact (2012-Present)
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The Journey

Filling the Gap

In its earliest days, TGFGN focused on a pressing challenge facing many Nigerian teenagers: limited access to practical education that prepares them for real-world success. Schools taught theory, but many young people lacked exposure to financial literacy, entrepreneurship, leadership, and vocational skills.

By curating 21st century relevant learning experiences, mentorship initiatives, and financial education events, the organisation created platforms where teenagers could discover their potential. One of the most impactful of these became the annual summer Bootcamp — Project Teach a Teen — designed to equip underserved teenagers with leadership training, vocational skills, business education, and other soft skills.

The Volunteers Who Made the Mission Possible

TGFGN’s story is not only about programmes or numbers — it is about people. For over a decade, volunteers formed the backbone of the organisation. Serving as technical team leads, state project managers, and community managers, they donated their time, energy, and expertise to help teenagers grow.

Their dedication turned ideas into functioning programmes, built networks across communities, and ensured that young people across Nigeria had access to opportunities they might otherwise never encounter. Simply put: TGFGN’s impact exists because of them.

Project Highlights

Project Teach a Teen

Annual bootcamp — leadership, vocational skills, business education

Project Inspire

Annual conference with public figures and social reformers

The Teen Achiever

Free quarterly publication distributed to teens across Nigeria

The Achievers' Trybe

Online learning community launched Oct 2020 — 16+ workshops delivered

12 Years of Impact

Our Journey

2012

Founded in Ibadan

TGFGN begins as a teen learning community in Ibadan, Nigeria.

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2013

Project Teach a Teen

First annual summer bootcamp equipping underserved teens with vocational and leadership skills.

2015

The Teen Achiever

Launch of TGFGN's flagship free publication, distributed across Nigeria.

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2018

Multi-State Expansion

Programmes expand across 5 states, reaching new communities and partners.

2020

Achievers' Trybe

Launch of the online teen learning community — October 3, 2020.

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2022

25,000 Milestone

Over 25,000 young people directly and indirectly reached through TGFGN programmes.

2024

Peace Education Mandate

TGFGN pivots to institutional peace education — a bold new chapter begins.

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2012

Founded in Ibadan

TGFGN begins as a teen learning community in Ibadan, Nigeria.

2013

Project Teach a Teen

First annual summer bootcamp equipping underserved teens with vocational and leadership skills.

2015

The Teen Achiever

Launch of TGFGN's flagship free publication, distributed across Nigeria.

2018

Multi-State Expansion

Programmes expand across 5 states, reaching new communities and partners.

2020

Achievers' Trybe

Launch of the online teen learning community — October 3, 2020.

2022

25,000 Milestone

Over 25,000 young people directly and indirectly reached through TGFGN programmes.

2024

Peace Education Mandate

TGFGN pivots to institutional peace education — a bold new chapter begins.

A New Chapter

From Empowerment to Peacebuilding

After twelve years of youth empowerment, TGFGN is entering a new and necessary phase. Recognising the growing social and security challenges affecting young Nigerians — insurgency, banditry, communal tensions, and regional conflicts — the organisation has introduced a new thematic focus: Peace Education.

“We believe this shift is timely and necessary, given Nigeria's evolving challenges. Our mission is to empower the next generation not only with economic skills but also with the tools to build a peaceful, cohesive society.”

— Pelumi Obisesan, Founder, TGFGN

The TGFGN Peace Education Model

What Young People Will Learn

TGFGN’s peace education approach is not a one-size-fits-all programme. It is designed to respond to the specific realities of different regions across Nigeria.

Understand Root Causes of Conflict

Gain knowledge of the social, historical, and political conditions that generate conflict in Nigerian communities.

Recognise the Human Impact of Violence

Develop empathy and awareness of how violence and division affect communities and individuals.

Develop Values of Peace and Reconciliation

Build personal commitment to tolerance, mutual respect, and peaceful coexistence across differences.

Practise Dialogue and Mediation

Gain practical skills for constructive dialogue, negotiation, and mediation in community settings.

Lead Community Problem Solving

Step into civic leadership roles — designing and implementing peacebuilding initiatives in their own communities.

Continuing the Legacy

Twelve Years of Vision.
A Future of Peace.

While TGFGN embraces this new direction in peace education, its core mission remains unchanged: fostering sustainable development through education in the most vulnerable communities. Economic empowerment will be paired with peacebuilding — preparing young people not only to succeed personally but also to strengthen the communities they live in.

Our Programmes
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Board of Trustees

Dr. Waheed Awonuga

Member, Board of Trustees

Waheed Oyetola Awonuga is a trained Medical Doctor with five years of ongoing practice experience, specialising in Family Medicine. He is also an entrepreneur with a knack for developing ideas that are not only bankable but profitable.

Waheed attended Santa Maria Private School in Mushin and Government College Ikorodu. He holds a Diploma in Data Processing from Olabisi Onabanjo University and completed his medical education at the University of Sierra Leone, graduating with MBChB (Medicine and Surgery). He passed the West African College of Physicians Primaries Examination at UCH, Ibadan.

Waheed is an alumnus of the Young Africa Leadership Initiative (YALI), Africa Cohort 2. He owns Infinity Creative Media, a media consultancy firm in Freetown, Sierra Leone, and Infinity Print House, a general print firm also based in Sierra Leone.

Waheed is an avid reader and writer who enjoys travelling and spending time with his family.

Management Team​

Hon. Tobi Olatunji

Executive Director

Hon. Tobi Olatunji serves as Executive Director of Teens Going for Gold Network, providing strategic leadership across TGFGN’s programmes and institutional partnerships.

He oversees programme delivery across all five active states and drives the organisation’s evolution into an institutional peace education body, ensuring that TGFGN’s work remains responsive to the complex social realities facing Nigerian youth today.

Management Team​

Ola Olaoluwa

Co-Founder

Olawumi Olaoluwa is a graduate from the Economics department of the University of Benin, Nigeria. He is also the Creative Director of JOSEL kolektionz, a clothing line.

Vocationally, he is a writer, content developer, actor, and leadership enthusiast. One of the pioneer volunteers of Teens Going for Gold Network, Olawumi has over five years of experience in teen mentoring and coaching. He currently serves as Director of Human Resources.

In his own words: “The opportunity Teens Going for Gold Network presents me with to impact teenagers with qualitative and sustainable education is the main attraction the organisation holds for me.”

Board of Trustees

Dr. Mala Mustapha

Member, Board of Trustees

Dr. Mala Mustapha is an academic and development professional with deep expertise in conflict resolution, peacebuilding, and institutional governance.

His scholarly and practitioner experience spans multiple Nigerian states and regional contexts, providing TGFGN with critical insight into the structural dimensions of peace and security in Northern Nigeria and the Lake Chad Basin region.

Board of Trustees

Idayat Hassan

Chair, Board of Trustees

Idayat Hassan is a leading expert in security, governance, and democracy in West Africa. She serves as the Director of the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), one of the region’s foremost policy research and advocacy organisations.

Her work spans election monitoring, conflict prevention, and democratic institution building across Nigeria and the broader West African sub-region. She brings decades of governance expertise to TGFGN’s Board of Trustees.

Management Team​

Godsgift Chayil Obi

DEPUTY DIRECTOR

Godsgift Chayil Obi serves as Deputy Director of Teens Going for Gold Network, supporting organisational management, programme coordination, and operational delivery.

In this role, she works closely with the Executive Director and management team to ensure that TGFGN’s programmes achieve their intended impact across all active states, maintaining the quality and consistency of delivery that has defined the organisation’s 12-year track record.

Board of Trustees

Dele Olomide​

Member, Board of Trustees

‘Dele Olomide currently leads the Human Resources and Admin function of Clarke Energy Nigeria, the largest authorised distributor and service partner for Jenbacher gas engines and a leading brand in the power and utility sector in Nigeria. His interests are Leadership Development, People Development (Coaching and Mentoring), Organisational Development and Change, Strategy and Growth.

‘Dele is an HR professional with approximately 10 years of generalist experience spanning Manufacturing, IT, Gaming and Energy. He is also an Associate Pastor with El-Shaddai Covenant Church, Lagos. Before now, he has worked with two multinationals, three start-ups, and a Secondary School.

He graduated from the University of Ilorin where he studied Mathematics/Statistics and holds an MBA in Marketing Management. He is an Associate Member of the Nigerian Institute of Training and Development and an Associate Member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel Management.

Board of Trustees

Adedolapo Osuntuyi

Member, Board of Trustees

Adedolapo Osuntuyi is a children and education advocate. She is the founder of Dolly Children Foundation, a nonprofit organisation that equips the African Child to adopt twenty-first-century skills through education, capacity building and advocacy programmes.

Inspired by her upbringing, she has a passion for empowering and creating equal opportunities for children from low-income backgrounds. Dolapo has developed organisational strategy and management processes in the Foundation that have impacted over 22,000 children in 25 communities in four states.

Dolapo has over a decade of experience in child protection, early childhood and community development programmes. A graduate of Botany from Lagos State University, she also holds a master’s degree in Child Health and Social Care from the University of Central Lancashire, Preston, United Kingdom.

In 2015, she received an Africa-America Institute Scholarship to study Social Sector Management at the Enterprise Development Centre, Pan-Atlantic University, Nigeria.

Board of Trustees

Adebanke Ilori Oyeniyi

Secretary, Board of Trustees

Adebanke Ilori Oyeniyi is a lawyer and development professional. Her professional experience spans across politics, inclusive governance, and legislative reforms. She serves as the Executive Director of Raising New Voices Initiative and as the Managing Editor of Lawyard, a platform for interactions around the practice of law in Nigeria.

In 2019, Adebanke led New Voices to conduct the national #BreakTheHold campaign providing resources to competent young people under 35 contesting to be members of the Federal House of Representatives. As a woman in politics, she was appointed as the National Publicity Secretary of Kowa Party — making her the youngest female to occupy the position in Nigeria.

As an advocate for social equality, she has championed the right of prison inmates to education in line with the UN Minimum Standard Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, and has worked for the implementation of laws to promote the rights of children and prevention of violence against persons.

As a Pan African, she has facilitated extensive deliberations at the African Union on the importance of youth integration in the actualisation of Agenda 2063.

Adebanke holds a bachelor’s degree in law from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, a Certificate in Public Management from Bridgewater State University, Massachusetts, and is pursuing her Master’s in International Development and Policy at the University of Chicago. She is a 2019 Mandela Washington Fellow.