Children enrolled on outreaches
Sessions delivered in 24/25 session
Material beneficiaries per year
Teachers trained annually
Who we are
A systems change initiative, built from within communities.
We started The Oluwanifise Foundation in mid-2023 with the objective of positively impacting early years literacy and nutrition in underserved communities across Nigeria.
Our interventions complement and upgrade formal provisions — working within the Nigerian national curriculum through in-term and holiday reading clubs, where a healthy snack is always part of the agenda. Our first projects are focused on Ibadan, where our founders grew up. In 2024 we expanded to Uke, Nasarawa State.
Mission
To advance the literacy and nutrition of children in underserved communities across Nigeria, relieving poverty through education and breaking the cycle of disadvantage.
Vision
A Nigeria where every child in a public primary school can read fluently, is nourished enough to learn, and has a teacher equipped and motivated to help them progress.
Goals
To expand our nutrition programme, scale across additional primary schools, and bring on partners to adopt our approach — multiplying impact beyond our direct delivery.
Our impact
Measured progress. Real results.
We assess every child individually when they join us and again at the end of each term — so we can see exactly who is progressing and who needs more support. The results below come from 157 children in our Ibadan schools, assessed between October and November 2025. We measure four building blocks of early reading:
4 in 5 children who came to us struggling to name letters could do so by the end of term
Recognising letters independently
4 in 5 children made progress.
Can they look at a letter and name it? This is the step that allows children progress to reading anything at all eventually.
79% improved · avg. gain +1.64 pts
Hearing sounds in words
3 in 5 children made progress.
Can they hear that ‘cat’ starts with a ‘c’ sound? Sound awareness is how children begin to decode written words.
64% improved · avg. gain +0.98 pts
Recognising common words
1 in 2 children made progress.
Words like ‘the’, ‘and’, ‘is’ appear on almost every page. Recognising them on sight speeds up reading dramatically.
49% improved · avg. gain +0.76 pts
Sounding out new words
1 in 3 children made progress.
The hardest skill — using letter sounds to work out a word they’ve never seen before. Even early gains here are significant
34% improved · avg. gain +0.24 pts
Based on paired assessment data · n=157 children · Ibadan schools · Oct–Nov 2025 · All four skills assessed on a 0–5 scale
Our programmes
Interlocking programmes. Integrated approach.
Most interventions treat literacy and nutrition separately. We integrate them at the level of every individual child, consistently, not episodically.
Our reading sessions follow a structured aligned to the Nigerian national curriculum but incorporating international best practice. Each one-hour session moves through the same four stages: a warm-up activity, explicit literacy instruction, guided reading practice, and a short comprehension or creativity task. Children are grouped by ability — not age — so instruction is always pitched at the right level.
Every session includes a nutritious snack. We know from research and experience that a hungry child cannot learn, so healthy snacks are always part of the agenda!
Structured phonics sessions inside public primary schools — one hour per week, with a nutritious breakfast at every session. Currently running across 3 schools in Ibadan, Oyo.
Weekly community-based sessions (trailed in Uke, Nasarawa State), for children, provided outside the formal school system. Same structured curriculum through community partnerships.
The Holiday Book Club addresses one of the most persistent risks in literacy education: regression during school breaks. Running in the “long break”. Now in its third year.
Annual training events and ongoing weekly collaboration with local teachers. Approximately 40 teachers trained annually — an intentional systems-change lever.
Annual distribution of school bags, books, and stationery to approximately 1,000 enrolled children. Paired with our annual career days to connect literacy to aspiration.
Our people
Led by people proximate to the communities we serve
Our founders and senior leadership grew up in the communities where we work. This closeness shapes how we design our programmes and gives us a level of community trust that externally-led organisations cannot easily replicate.
Temitope
Owolabi
FOUNDER & CEO
Bayo
Owolabi
CO-FOUNDER
Lolu
Adedeji
DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS
Gunwa
Adedeji
DIRECTOR OF PROGRAMMES
Jonathan
Okharedia
TRUSTEE
Tosin
Ojo
TRUSTEE
On the ground
Our programme staff and volunteer team in Ibadan and beyond are the heart of our delivery: running sessions, distributing materials, and building relationships with children and families in the communities we serve.
Get involved
Work with us. Grow the movement
We are always looking to extend our reach. That could mean partnering with organisations, welcoming volunteers into our holiday clubs, or sharing our curriculum with communities who want to run their own reading programmes. There is a route in for almost everyone.
We are looking for a part-time community worker to anchor our programme in Uke. You would run a weekly reading club for up to 30 children during term time and the school holidays, and coordinate our annual school drive and other local activities. This role is ideal for someone who lives locally and has a passion for education.
Now in its third year, our Ibadan Holiday Reading Club runs every August. We rely on dedicated volunteers to help our staff deliver daily sessions throughout the month – leading small groups, reading aloud with children, and helping to create a joyful, encouraging atmosphere. Local residents especially welcome.
Excited and want to start something similar where you are? We are happy to share our material – teacher’s guides, session plans, and book recommendations with anyone who wants to host a holiday book club or community reading programme. You bring the community — we provide the framework and tools for success and tracking impact.
Are you a school, local government, NGO, or education organisation working in Nigeria? We are interested in partnerships that can extend our reach. We are open to options including co-delivery, adopting our model in new communities, or sharing data and learning. Reach out and our team will be happy to explore what’s possible with you.
Support us
Supporting our work
At The Oluwanifise Foundation we believe every child deserves the tools for success, starting with strong literacy skills and proper nutrition. Our programmes in Ibadan and Uke are already transforming the lives of children through reading clubs, teacher training, and healthy meals.
Our first three years have been predominantly self-funded. We are ready to scale and your generosity will help us expand — reaching more children in need.
General donations
Happy for us to allocate as needed? An unrestricted donation supports all our initiatives.
Program-specific
Want to support a specific programme? Add a reference to the programme when completing payment to restrict its use.
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