About Stephen Akuma Network Foundation
Stephen Akuma Network Foundation (SANF) is a non-profit, non-partisan organisation based in Makurdi, Benue State, Nigeria. Our main work is helping young people build skills, get mentoring and find work. We also continue our work in civic education, peace-building and community development.
Our mission
To help young people in Benue State, especially those from middle and low-income households, gain digital skills, mentorship and pathways to work.
Our vision
A Benue State where every young person, whatever their background, has the skills, guidance and opportunities to earn a living and take part in community life.
Our values
- Dignity: We treat young people as partners in their own progress.
- Honesty: We report what worked and what did not.
- Practicality: We focus on skills and contacts that lead to real work.
- Accountability: We are open about our governance, our money and our relationships.
- Peace: We bring people together across ethnic and community lines.
Our story
SANF was founded in 2017 by Stephen Shiaondo Akuma, PhD, a computer science lecturer at Benue State University. In 2016, Dr Akuma started a blog, TAKINGaSTEP, that profiled young entrepreneurs in Benue State. Those stories showed how much talent young people had, and how few routes into work they could find.
SANF began with youth reorientation, voter education, good-governance advocacy and dialogue between communities. To respond to youth unemployment in Benue, we built an online portal where young people can register for job placement support. More than 500 have registered. Since then, digital skills training and mentorship have become the centre of our work.
How SANF and SACS Computers work together
SANF delivers digital skills training with SACS Computers, an ICT company founded in 2009 and registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC).
SACS Computers provides training facilities, instructors and technical skills. SANF mobilises young people, provides mentoring and works on job placements. For the free IDEAS programme, SANF put forward young people from its mentorship programme as trainees. SANF has also sponsored young people for training at SACS Computers.
We want to be clear about this relationship. Dr Stephen Akuma founded SANF and is also the founder and CEO of SACS Computers. The two organisations share an address, No. 4 Inikpi Street, High Level, Makurdi. SACS Computers also designed this website.
We manage this relationship carefully. Dr Akuma and his family members on our board of trustees, Doofan Akuma (his wife, a manager at SACS Computers) and Jacob Akuma (his brother), do not take part in SANF decisions about contracts or payments to SACS Computers. Those decisions are made by our Director of Finance and at least one trustee or adviser with no link to SACS Computers or the Akuma family. All payments to SACS Computers are reported in our annual accounts. See our Governance & Transparency page for details.
Meet the Team
Our leadership team, trustees and advisers
Stephen Shiaondo Akuma, PhD
Founder and TrusteeLecturer in Computer Science at Benue State University, with a PhD in Computing and an MSc in Software Development from Coventry University, UK. Founder and CEO of SACS Computers.
Dr Peter Itodo
Director of Finance and Trustee
Emmanuel Okube
Director of CommunicationsSoftware Developer and health informatics specialist, with over seven years experience building web and mobile applications, including electronic health record systems. Formerly Health Informatics Officer at Jhpiego.
Barr. Ochima George Esa
Legal Adviser and TrusteeSenior Associate at Marble Partners LP. A legal practitioner, litigation counsel and human rights advocate, and a member of the Computer Forensic Institute of Nigeria.
Doofan Akuma
TrusteeManager and Head of Environmental Safety at SACS Computers, our training partner.
Jacob Akuma
Trustee
Dr Maryam Abubakar
Adviser and TrusteeMedical practitioner specialising in neonatology and paediatrics, with fellowships and residencies at the University of Virginia Children's Hospital, BronxCare Health System/Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital.
Mr Henry Akya
Adviser
Prof. Kohol Shadrach Iornem
AdviserProfessor of Business Management at Regent College London, with a Master's degree and a PhD from Cardiff Metropolitan University. Fellow of the Institute of Management Consultants.
Mavis Dooshima Orjime
AdviserSocial Development Adviser at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), with over 16 years' experience in gender equality, social inclusion and social protection across Nigeria. Formerly with USAID-funded programmes, Mercy Corps and FHI 360.
Mr Gabriel Osas Enehizena
AdviserSenior QA Test Engineer at L&Q, with an MBA in Global Business and a BSc in Business Information Technology from Coventry University, UK. ISTQB Advanced certified test specialist.
Dr Igu Joel
AdviserQuality Data Center Manager at the San Francisco Department of Public Health, with an MBA from Johns Hopkins University, an MS in Global Health Sciences from UCSF and an MBBS from the University of Nigeria. Former McKinsey & Company consultant.
Mentor a young person, run a workshop or help at an event. Volunteers who work with young people go through our safeguarding checks.
Make a Donation
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