Fund the ideas that move Ojodu.
The Ojodu Innovation Hub backs residents aged 18 to 40 who are building something real here — a shop, a workshop, a farm, a studio, a digital product or a service the community needs. You bring the idea and the plan. Every application is read against published criteria, and the committee decides which ones to fund.
- Ojodu LCDA, Ikeja, Lagos
- Ages 18–40
- ₦500,000–₦5,000,000 per award
Free to apply — no application fee, no agent and no middleman.
Impact console
Counted liveCounted straight from programme records — not typed in by hand.
- Submissions received
- 0Applications submitted, drafts excluded
- Ideas graded
- 0Read against the published rubric
- Average score
- 0.0/100Mean weighted score across graded ideas
- Verified applicants
- 0Applicants with a completed identity check
Programme headline figures
- Funds deployed₦0ActualActual to date
- Businesses funded0ActualActual to date
- Direct jobs created0ActualActual to date
- Residents served0ActualActual to date
- Venture survival rate0%ActualActual to date
- Capital recovered₦0ActualActual to date
- Funds to deploy₦0Year-1 targetYear 1 target
- Businesses to fund0Year-1 targetYear 1 target
- Direct jobs to create0Year-1 targetYear 1 target
- Residents to reach0Year-1 targetYear 1 target
- Target survival rate0%Year-1 targetYear 1 target
- Target capital recovery0%Year-1 targetYear 1 target
Targets are programme goals, not results. Where an actual figure is still zero, we publish it as zero.
See the full impact reportWhy Ojodu
A young community that already knows how to build
Ojodu is not short of enterprise, skill or appetite. It is short of the capital and infrastructure that turn those into lasting businesses.
Ojodu LCDA is one of the youngest, most densely built corners of Ikeja. Its six wards — Ogba / Oluwole, Aguda (Ogba), Oke-Ira, Powerline, Akiode / Agidingbi, Ojodu Berger / Yakoyo — are home to thousands of residents in their teens, twenties and thirties, most of them working, trading or learning a trade.
The local economy runs on small enterprise and apprenticeship. Tailoring, fabrication, food, repairs, transport, beauty, trading — and a growing number of software, media and design businesses. Skills here are usually learned by working under someone who already does the job. What is often missing at the end of that apprenticeship is not ability; it is the capital to buy the machine, rent the space or stock the first order.
Two barriers come up in almost every conversation: access to affordable start-up capital, and reliable power to run equipment. This programme addresses the first directly and works with partners on the second. We would rather state that limit plainly than suggest that one award settles everything.
0
Wards across Ojodu LCDA
Ogba, Aguda, Oke-Ira, Powerline, Akiode/Agidingbi and Ojodu Berger/Yakoyo.
18–40
Age range eligible to apply
Applicants must be between 18 and 40 when they apply.
₦500,000–₦5,000,000
Award range per successful application
Every request is assessed against its own plan and budget — the maximum is not the default.
What we fund
Six kinds of venture, one programme
You choose the type that fits best when you start your application. If your work spans two, pick the one that covers most of it and explain the rest in your answers.
Business / Startup
A trading, retail, manufacturing or service business serving Ojodu.
Technology & Digital
Software, hardware, digital services or tech-enabled delivery.
Agriculture & Agro-processing
Farming, livestock, food processing, packaging or agri-trade.
Creative, Media & Entertainment
Fashion, design, music, film, content, events or advertising.
Vocational Skills & Trades
Tailoring, fabrication, repairs, catering, beauty or construction trades.
Social Impact & Community
Education, health, sanitation, inclusion or community services.
Grants support equipment, workspace, stock, training, licensing, marketing or the first months of running costs — whatever your plan shows is needed to get trading and to create paid work for Ojodu residents.
Start an applicationHow it works
From idea to submitted application in five steps
Every applicant follows the same five steps. Answer honestly and concretely — that is what the review is reading for.
Step 1. Start
What are you applying for?
Choose the application type that fits your venture: business, technology, agriculture, creative, vocational or community.
Step 2. About you
Tell us who you are
Your name, contact details, age, education, skills, and the ward or area of Ojodu where you live.
Step 3. Your idea
Describe the venture
The problem you are solving, your solution, who it serves, the stage you are at and how you plan to grow.
Step 4. Funding & impact
What you need and what it changes
The amount you are requesting between ₦500,000 and ₦5,000,000, how it will be spent, and the jobs and residents it will reach.
Step 5. Links & review
Check and submit
Add a website, repository or demo if you have one, check every answer, and submit. Your identity check runs alongside.
Save a draft and resume at any step
Your answers are kept as you go, so you can leave the form and come back to the same step later. Nothing is submitted until you review it and confirm.
Eligibility
Three requirements — nothing hidden
If you meet all three, you can apply. No connection, no invitation and no fee is required.
Aged 18 to 40
You must be within this age band on the day you apply. Your age is part of your application, so please enter it accurately.
Resident in Ojodu LCDA
You must live in one of the six wards: Ogba / Oluwole, Aguda (Ogba), Oke-Ira, Powerline, Akiode / Agidingbi, Ojodu Berger / Yakoyo.
At least one valid ID
- NIN — National Identification Number
- VIN — Voter Identification Number (PVC)
- LASSRA — Lagos State Residents ID
If your ID check cannot be completed automatically
Never blocks an applicationA check that cannot be completed straight away is passed to the committee for manual review. You can still submit your application while that happens, and you will always be told where your verification stands. No applicant is turned away because a system could not confirm their ID on the spot.
You do not need a registered company, a lawyer or an agent to apply, and there is no charge at any stage of the process.
How ideas are assessed
Published criteria, fixed weights, human judgement
This is the exact framework used to read every application. Weights are fixed so that two similar ideas are always measured the same way.
The scoring recommends. A committee decides.
Every application is read against the same seven criteria, and the weighted total places it in one of the bands below. That structure keeps applications comparable and the process open — it does not approve or reject anything by itself. A committee of people reviews each application, weighs the written evidence against the realities of Ojodu, and makes the funding decision. No applicant is funded or refused by software alone.
The seven criteria
Weights total 100 points
Each criterion is read on its own evidence and given a score out of 100. The bar next to each one shows its fixed weight — that weight, not the raw score alone, is what shapes the total.
Feasibility in Ojodu LCDA
Can this actually be executed within Ojodu — infrastructure, permits, supply chains, available skills and cost base?
Feasibility in Ojodu — weight25%Employment of Ojodu residents
Direct jobs for people living in Ojodu in years 1–3. Concrete, paid roles — not vague promises of 'jobs'.
Ojodu jobs — weight25%Usefulness to constituents
How many Ojodu residents or customers does it serve, and how everyday and essential is the problem it solves?
Constituent impact — weight20%Problem significance
Severity and frequency of the problem within the local community.
Problem significance — weight10%Business sustainability
Revenue model, pricing realism and a credible path to break-even.
Sustainability — weight10%Innovation / differentiation
Novelty, or a smarter approach compared with existing local options.
Innovation — weight5%Founder capability
Skills, experience, team and demonstrated ability to execute.
Founder capability — weight5%
What the bands mean
A weighted total falls into one of four bands. Each band describes what the committee is advised to consider — it is a recommendation, not a decision.
- Priority funding85–100
Strong on feasibility and impact; recommend for immediate funding consideration.
- Fund after due diligence70–84
Promising; recommend funding subject to standard due diligence.
- Incubation first55–69
Needs support to become fundable; recommend the incubation track.
- Not recommended0–54
Does not currently meet the bar for funding or incubation.
A band is advice to the committee, not a verdict. The committee reads the band alongside the full application and the local context before it decides what happens to a submission.
Impact
Impact, reported in public
The programme publishes what it receives, what applicants ask for and what the committee approves. Figures are counted from programme records and updated as applications move through review. Nothing is rounded up — when a number is zero, it says zero.
₦0
Total requested by applicants
Combined amount requested across all submitted applications.
0
Approved for funding
Applications the committee has approved or moved into funding.
0
Residents the plans aim to serve
Reach reported in approved applications — a plan, not yet a result.
Year-1 targets are published alongside actual results and labelled as targets, so the difference is never blurred.
See the full impact reportFAQ
Questions applicants ask
Short, direct answers. If yours is not here, the secretariat can help — the address is at the bottom of this page.
Residents of Ojodu LCDA aged 18 to 40. You need at least one valid ID — NIN, Voter’s VIN or LASSRA — and either an idea you are developing or a venture that is already trading. You can apply as an individual: no registered company, invitation or agent is required.
Between ₦500,000 and ₦5,000,000. There is no advantage in asking for the maximum. The committee assesses the amount against your plan, your budget and the impact you describe, so ask for what the work actually requires — and explain how every part of it will be spent.
One valid ID is required: a NIN, a Voter’s VIN (your PVC) or a LASSRA card. That is the only document the application depends on. If you have more — a business name certificate, quotes for equipment, photographs, a website, a code repository or a demo — you can add them, and they often make a plan easier to assess.
The form has five steps, and most applicants complete it in about 20 to 30 minutes. You do not have to finish in one sitting: save a draft at any step and resume it later from your dashboard. After you submit, you can follow your application through each review stage from your dashboard, and every applicant is contacted with the outcome.
A committee of people. Every application is read against the seven published criteria and placed in a band, which is a recommendation rather than a decision. The committee weighs that alongside the written application and the realities of Ojodu before making the funding decision. No application is approved or refused by software alone.
It does not stop your application. A check that cannot be completed automatically is queued for manual review by the committee, and you can still submit while that review happens. If something about the details you entered needs correcting, you will be told what to fix. A pending or inconclusive check never blocks an application.
No. Applying is free at every stage, and you never need to pay an agent or a middleman. If anyone asks you for money in exchange for an application or an approval, please report it at the LCDA secretariat.
Ready to put your idea to work in Ojodu?
If you are a resident of Ojodu LCDA aged 18 to 40 with a plan worth backing, the application is open. It is one form, five steps, and it costs nothing.
Applying does not guarantee funding. Every application is assessed and the committee decides.
Need help with the form? Visit the secretariat
Ojodu LCDA Secretariat, 1–3 Secretariat Road, Powerline, Oke-Ira, Ojodu LCDA, Lagos