Applications are open for Cohort Two of the Bosun Tijani Foundation’s Gen AI Fellowship, a six-month programme designed to move young Nigerians from casual users of generative AI tools into people who can actually build products with them. Unlike a classroom course, the fellowship leans on mentorship and hands-on projects, and this cohort keeps that same formula that trained more than 80 fellows in 2025. If you’ve been looking for a structured way into AI beyond tutorials and X threads, applications close July 31, and training begins in September.
Major Highlights
- Applications for Cohort Two are open now and close July 31, 2026, with training starting September 1 in Abeokuta, Ogun State, and Kano.
- The fellowship offers two tracks: AI Engineering and AI Application Development.
- Selected fellows receive a monthly stipend of ₦50,000 for the duration of the programme.
- Shortlisted candidates will be contacted for interviews between August 3 and 15 following the application deadline.
- Training is delivered in person in Abeokuta and Kano — applicants need to plan for consistent physical attendance before applying.
- Cohort One trained over 80 fellows in 2025 using the same mentorship-and-projects model; Cohort Two builds directly on that formula.
- You can apply directly at bosuntijanifoundation.org.
KINI BIG DEAL
A year or two ago, most of what got published under “Nigeria and AI” was strategy — the National AI Strategy document, a governance bill still sitting unsigned after missed deadlines. What’s happening now, at least in this corner of the ecosystem, is a shift from writing the plan to staffing it; who is actually being trained, by whom, and to build what.
That shift only works if both ends of the pipeline hold. The government’s 3 Million Technical Talent programme is built for scale: millions of Nigerians getting exposed to digital skills. This fellowship is built for depth; a few hundred people getting deep enough to actually ship something. Neither replaces the other. Nigeria needs both the wide net and the sharp point, and right now it’s building both at once, mostly without anyone formally coordinating the two.
The measure of whether any of this worked won’t show up in application numbers or cohort sizes. It’ll show up in three years, when you can point to a specific Nigerian AI product or company and trace its founder back to one of these rooms. That’s the test every training programme like this — government-run or foundation-run — will eventually face, whether it’s ready for it or not.
