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 “You can’t learn how to code, you don’t have the background for it.”

That was what my tutor told me after I’d already paid for the lessons. As a graduate of econom­ics and statistics, I was eager to break into tech, but he flat-out said he couldn’t teach me and told my classmates to help me instead. That rejection didn’t stop me.

I turned to YouTube tutorials, W3Schools, and PDF manuals. Most nights, while others slept, I was up debugging broken code, watching endless videos, and

teaching myself JavaScript line by line. Four years later, I’ve built mobile and web apps for real us­ers, mentored dozens of aspiring devs, and proven that you don’t need a computer science degree, just consistency, community, and an unstoppable will to learn.

Only a small fraction of Nige­rian universities offer dedicated computer science or software en­gineering degrees, and even fewer provide updated, industry-relevant training. According to NUC (Na­tional Universities Commission) data, Nigeria has 270+ accredited tertiary institutions, but less than 25% have modern computer sci­ence departments with adequate infrastructure.

For those that do, curricula are often outdated, focusing on theory over practical coding skills. Many students graduate without ever writing a single real-world applica­tion, some without internet access in their labs.

Broadband penetration in Ni­geria is around 45% (NCC, 2025), but this is heavily skewed toward cities like Lagos, Abuja, and Port Harcourt. In many rural areas, in­ternet access is either nonexistent or too expensive to be sustainable for learning. Learning to code in a rural area often means down­loading a 4-hour YouTube tutorial overnight, or walking into town to find a cafe with wi-fi.

Despite the challenges, thou­sands of Nigerians are breaking into tech through alternative, self-driven paths. With little ac­cess to structured education or formal mentorship, many rely on community, creativity, and grit to carve their own routes into soft­ware development and digital ca­reers. Where government support is lacking, local communities have stepped up: Small-scale bootcamps and learning circles have popped up in cities and towns, some run by experienced devs volunteering their time. I’ve mentored several devs who started in a WhatsApp coding group with 20 members and no curriculum, just vibes, ques­tions, and a shared dream. Also, YouTube has become the de facto classroom; channels like

Programming with Mosh, Tra­versy Media, and The Net Ninja are household names in Nigeria’s dev circles.

As someone who built a tech ca­reer without a traditional comput­er science degree, I know firsthand how difficult it is to navigate this path alone. That’s why I’ve made it a personal mission to give back, to be the kind of support I didn’t have when I started. Over the past two years, I’ve mentored aspiring developers who, like me, came from non-CS backgrounds, some fresh graduates, others school leavers with just curiosity and a borrowed phone. One of them, a former tex­tile engineering student, landed his first internship after we spent weeks together refining his port­folio and preparing for technical interviews.

I strongly believe mentorship is one of the most powerful tools we have to bridge Nigeria’s tech divide.

It’s time for more employers to shift their focus from academic qualifications to practical ability, portfolio work, and demonstrated problem-solving. A GitHub repo, a working app, or a contribution to open source can speak volumes about a candidate’s capabilities, sometimes more than a transcript ever could.

Recognising alternative path­ways isn’t just fair, it’s necessary if we want to tap into the full poten­tial of Nigeria’s tech talent.

Nigeria’s tech future doesn’t just depend on how many engineers we produce; it depends on who gets the chance to become one. I’m calling on senior developers to mentor those coming behind them, even if it’s just reviewing a project, answering questions, or offering career guidance. Sometimes, a few words of encouragement can change someone’s whole trajecto­ry. I’ve seen it happen. And to the government and policymakers: it’s time to invest seriously in non-tra­ditional tech education through funding, certification, and infra­structure that supports self-taught and community-based learning models.

There are thousands of talented Nigerians teaching themselves to code right now in cafés, in shared rooms, on old phones. They don’t need a miracle. Just an opportunity.

Orafu Charles Tochukwu Charles is a Software Engineer with over four years of experience building solutions for es­tablishments