We built Wekoya as students, and now Nigeria is paying attention

We still can't believe it's true. Some moments make you stop and take everything in, just to realise how far you've come. For us at Wekoya, this is one of those moments.

Wekoya started as an idea, three engineering students who looked at how students were learning and were living it themselves. They thought: “There has to be a better way.” There were no big offices, investors or a roadmap. All they had was a problem they cared about and the belief that they could actually solve it.

Today, that idea has a name and a growing community of students behind it. And now, a ₦50 million federal government grant to back it up. It still feels like a dream.

Recently, our co-founder, Umar-Faruq Adeshina, had the honour of meeting with the Vice-Chancellor of UNILAG, Professor Folasade Ogunsola, following Wekoya's recognition as one of the winners of the Federal Student Venture Capital Grant.

Out of over 30,000 applications received nationwide, only 45 innovators were selected. Wekoya was one of them. Eight of those winners came from UNILAG and sitting among them was Wekoya's co-founder who helped build this platform from scratch.

A representative of the Honourable Minister of Education looked those student founders in the eye and said: "The President and Honourable Minister are completely convinced that the future of Nigeria is in your hands as youths. Nigeria truly believes in you."

For a team that started with nothing but an idea and a lot of late nights, those words meant a lot to us.

The Vice-Chancellor also added something that stayed with us. She told the innovators: "I am blown away by your approach to the issues your ideas addressed because I can see they emerged from interacting with your environment."

That's exactly what Wekoya is. It came from lived experience, knowing what it actually feels like to study for hours and still walk into an exam underprepared and wanting something that makes learning work for students.

When you're building something as students, there are moments of doubt, when balancing academics, responsibilities, and building a platform at the same time feels almost impossible. This recognition reminds us that believing in a mission is bigger than your fears.

It is proof that innovation can come from classrooms, hostels, libraries, and ordinary conversations between students who simply care enough to solve a problem.

The best part of this story is knowing that Wekoya was never built for us alone. It was built for students, those struggling to cope academically, searching for better ways to learn, grow, and succeed.

You were part of this before we even gained recognition. To every student who has supported us by logging in, trying a feature, or telling a friend about Wekoya, thank you!

Wekoya has always been built with you in mind. Every feature, update, and email we send all comes back to one question: Does this actually help students learn better? This grant gives us more resources to keep asking that question and building toward the answer.

The journey is just getting started, and we're glad you're on it with us.