By Chukwuma Ajakah

Nigeria’s four-time Guinness World Record holder, Adetunwase Adenle is not just chasing art. He is transforming Ijora Badia’s youngsters’ lives through art education.

In 2018, Ijora Badia, a flood-prone suburb in Apapa-Iganmu LCDA, Lagos State, welcomed Adetunwase’s Slum Art Pet Bottle School, which sheltered out-of-school children, offering free training in collage and other visual art forms. Seven years later, Adetunwase unleashes Africa’s first solar-powered AI-driven animation studio in Ijora Badia, organizing a 90-day stress test to ignite artistic dreams for neglected children.

According to the organizers, the stress test builds upon significant measurable traction from Slum Art Pet Bottle School’s activities, which have already trained 10,000 children across Lagos State in AI-assisted storytelling during the pilot phase, validating youth adoption, operational feasibility, and training scalability. “The AI Factory transitions that educational ecosystem into a monetizable industrial production,” Adetunwase said, adding that a million pre-ready AI storytellers are being mobilized for the next scale. While global giants like Disney tap AI for storytelling, Nigeria is building its own creative tech through what Adetunwase and partners are doing in Ijora Badia, tapping AI to empower Africans to own the narrative, not just supply the talent.

Explaining why they started the expansion project, Adetunwa says, “A child doesn’t determine where he is born or raised, but we can determine the trajectory of these children and influence the quality of what they can be or learn. In the 2025 pilot, we trained 10,000 volunteers from private schools on animation.

“The Nigeria Story’ aims to unite up to a million contributors in a Guinness World Record attempt and each of these children is to bring 100 storytellers on board, allowing room for mass participation and digital inclusion. For this year, we asked ourselves: Are we going to do the same thing or something indigenous to the community? Are we really impacting the community? Are we making what we are doing gender inclusive?”

Acknowledging the critical role corporate organizations like World Connect and First City Monument Bank (FCMB) have played in sustaining Slum Art School’s growth since 2019, the founder describes the firms as formidable partners whose funding has positioned the initiative as a flagship CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) project, “World Connect, our foundational infrastructure partner, made this milestone possible,” he says, recounting that the firm funded the construction of the animation factory, proving that sustainable infrastructure and AI literacy drive economic mobility.

FCMB’s strategic partnership shifts CSR from charity to capability-driven nation building, accelerating AI literacy among Nigerians. Speaking on the bank’s involvement, Head, Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability (CSR), Omoniyi Iyanda, says, “This initiative reflects our commitment to inclusive innovation, environmental responsibility, and long-term economic empowerment. By supporting AI infrastructure in underserved communities, we’re investing in sustainable impact with global relevance.”

The ongoing 90-day stress test is a proof of capacity, inspiring convergence of diverse categories of viewers: students, filmmakers, engineers, and investors. 

The highlight of the opening ceremony was when guests were led to the state-of-the-art-studio where they witnessed the AI-powered animation studio’s capabilities firsthand. Viewing live the works of children like 10-year-old Abibat, whose art caught Alliance France’s eye, gave visitors insight into Adetunwase’s project’s transformative potential.

The audience, which included community leaders such as Balogun Babatunde Adebayo, Iya Olode, Titilayo Olumo Dawat, and Nurse Folashade Biliki Abdulrahman, got to view, challenge, and be wowed by AI content unfolding live, indicating that the entertainment future is AI-powered and Ijora Badia, is building the engine to put Nigeria at the vanguard. Describing the moment as a transition from vision to validation, the creative explained that the stress test which started on Thursday, 26 February, 2026 would run for 90 days, and end on Tuesday, 26 May, 2026.

“We are using education to drive inclusion, we don’t want outsiders to develop this place for us,” he said, adding that Slum Art Pet Bottle School alumni have been actively involved in planning, organizing, and teaching younger pupils, saving him of the stress that would have resulted from excessive workload.