Category: Education & Innovation

13-year-old Jimoh Khairat Onize has emerged as the second runner up of the British Council Writing Competition.

Jimoh Khairat attends Dependable International School, Niger State. Her story titled “Unity and Faith, Peace and Progress” was judged to be the third best among the numerous entries received worldwide in the 11-14 years old category of the Commonwealth Class Children’s Short Story Writing Competition.

The other top entries of the British Council Writing Competition are:

• First place: Christmas Wish by Ren-Wei Yip, Malaysia
• Second place: Peace by Elena Gourley, Northern Ireland UK

An additional story in this category was awarded ”highly commended” by the judging panel.

According to the comments of the Judges as regards to Jimoh Khairat’s story:

“This is a tragic story about war, but with a hopeful ending. It contains an important message about young peoples’ voices being heard, and moments of detail create a strong sense of place and atmosphere.”

Excerpts from Jimoh Khairat’s story:

{Justice is blind.

The scourge of poverty has taken away the days of bumper harvest, days when I had surplus to eat. My stomach rumbles like rocks rolling down a volcano about to erupt: the repulsive smell from smouldering corpses for breakfast, wild fruits for lunch and putrid trash scavenged for dinner. The poison arrows of separation, parents from children. Poor orphans like me seek protection in the rainforest of southern Nigeria as the only dwelling place. The ruckus from nearby villages gives me no certitude of life for the morrow. This forced escapade only brings unrestricted imaginations of the future: a united and peaceful Nigeria.

…

The day came when I saw my best friend, Ella, lying down lifeless under a banana tree, bereft, I risked all I had left – my life. I waded through the mud barefooted, towards the direction of the non indulgent militants; the sound from marching boots led the way. A hefty grip held me and I was blindfolded, presented to their leader – a man at the brink of old age – whom I saw after the blindfold was removed… “I’d die anyway, although it’s worse than not trying”, I’d thought, so I began to speak, “Enough blood has been shed already, Nigeria is ours and we cannot disintegrate her, dialogue is paramount to ensuring a realistic victory for our cause, until you realise, united we stand, divided we fall, until then, peace or annihilation.” To my greatest surprise he believed me! Surrendering but not defeated, the southern activists decided to annul the idea of disintegration.

As I stand before a crowd united at heart, having done for my country, something heroic. Peace henceforth even forever.}

Roseben Anyanwu has emerged winner of the 8th Korea-Nigeria Poetry Feast, with a winning cash prize of ₦100,000.

Roseben Anyanwu’s poem: “Roma” topped the list for the adult category at the event organised by the Korean Cultural Centre in Nigeria to mark the World Poetry Day on March 21, 2018.

Also, Oko Owoicho’s poem “We will sing water” came second with a total prize money of ₦75,000 while the third (cash) prize of ₦50,000 went to Rilwan Adelaja for his poem “The Cyclist”.

Seven other poets from the category got the sum of ₦25,000 each as consolation prizes.

Similarly, from the Junior category including secondary schools, Ameerah Adunola from Government Secondary school, Dutse, emerged overall winner for her poem, “Path Way” and was awarded ₦50,000.

Praise Acha, from African Child College Abuja emerged first runner up with her poem “The Path” was given ₦30,000. Gift Ngwuli clinched the second runner up position with her poem “Lyrics of Old” and got ₦20,000.

Seven other students got ₦10,000 each as consolation prizes at the 8th Korea-Nigeria Poetry Feast.

Han Sungrae, Director of the KCCN, said for eight years in a row, the centre has offered Nigerians the platform to express themselves and show their talent using poetry.

Sungrae, who was represented by Jee Meeyoun, a Cultural Assistant at the centre, said that the 2018 response to the call for entry into the poetry competition was positive.

In his words:

“This year, we received a record submission in the adult category with 505 poems; from the secondary school category, we got 78 poems from seven schools in the Federal Capital Territory.

The best 10 poems from each category have been carefully selected by independent judges for the awards.

We thank all poets that have sent in entries especially those whose poems were not selected, we implore you not to relent in your quest to excel.”

Alhaji Oladimeji Hassan, Secretary of FCT Social Development Secretariat in his keynote address, said:

“I have no doubt that this poetic exercises is not only intended to be enjoyed but also to spur the creative ingenuity among writers that will produce powerful poets that will build the future of this nation.

I will continue to encourage and support these creative minds in which lies the root of our collective growth and development as a nation.”

Dot Learn, an online video e-learning company located in Nigeria, has won $25,000 Edtech Prize in the ‘Next Billion’ Edtech Prize launched by The Varkey Foundation to recognise the most innovative technology destined to have a radical impact on education in low income and emerging world countries.

Nigerian-based Dot Learn, emerged a runner-up, which makes online video e-learning accessible on slow, expensive internet connections for users in low-income countries. TeachMeNow, also a runner-up, is a marketplace that connects teachers, experts, and mentors based in the UAE.

Dot Learn, co-founded by Tunde Alawode, Sam Bhattacharyya and Thomas Richmann, was among the three winners awarded $25,000 as well as the unique opportunity to pilot their technology in partner schools in Western Cape, South Africa.

According to the CEO and Co-founder of Dot Learn, Sam Bhattacharyya:

“We are very strong believers that education technology is the future and that more students when they see online video, they will be more prone to study online because learning now is about technology.”

The inaugural ‘Next Billion’ Edtech Prize was won by Chatterbox; an online solution – online language school, which gives refugees the chance to work both online and in-person as language tutors.

The prize is worth £18,900 and the winner gets an opportunity to pilot their technology in partner schools in Western Cape, South Africa.

The £18,900 prize will go towards Chatterbox’s target of reaching £350,000, which will help it expand its network beyond the UK to other countries with large refugee populations for whom there are few economic opportunities.

A team of four students from the University of Lagos (UNILAG) has emerged winners of the maiden edition of the Coca-Cola Global Management Challenge after six weeks of intense competition.

The team made up of final year UNILAG students include: Abdullahi Salimat, Department of Finance; Adeniyi Talabi, Department of Systems Engineering; Oyekan Idris, Department of Accounting and Olubodun Sulaiman, Department of Business Administration came tops in the competition for their innovative business solutions.

They will represent Nigeria for the first time at the international finale coming up in Dubai, in April, 2018.

Continue reading 4 UNILAG Students Win 2018 Coca-Cola Global Management Challenge

Towunmi Coker Literary Initiative – a non-governmental organisation (NGO) has awarded winners of the 2017 Teecoks Writing Competition.

Teecoks Writing Competition is organised by the NGO for secondary school students in Lagos State. The competition had as theme ‘Flipping the Scripts: An Unemployment Story,’ with entries submitted either in poetry or fictional form.

Winners Of The 2017 Teecoks Writing Competition

Poetry category:

Omotayo Tomiwa of Maryland Comprehensive School, Ikeja, Lagos, went home with the first position and beat Atanda Akpezi Blessing of Diary Farm Secondary School, while Ezeokeh Chelsea of Holy Child College emerged the third winner.

Fiction category:

Osumah Katherine of Maryland Comprehensive School emerged winner, while Oluwapemi Adesanya of Oke-Oso Senior High School and Obidi Eunice Onyeaka of ISL settled for the second and third prizes respectively.

There was, however, consolation prizes for the fourth to 10th place winners. The winners were given certificates of recognition and some prize items, while the top three winners for each category were given some money. In addition, they will be sponsored in a writing workshop later this year.

The event, which made its debut in 2013, has according to the founder, Dr. Towunmi Coker, created an avenue for creative writers among secondary schools students to showcase their prowess and get necessary recognition.

According to her:

“I am very glad that my initiative is helping to nurture the raw talent of students. My aim of establishing this initiative was to see that the students cultivate the habit of reading and writing good books.

I am glad that our efforts have not been in vain as the students are now eager to participate fully in the competition and the schools’ authorities are also doing us a favour by registering their students en masse for the competition. And I can say that it has gone a long way to improving the reading and writing culture among the students.”

While speaking at the event, the chairman, Prof. Tunde Babawale, advised the students to always seek knowledge through books because one could only become wise only by what he or she had experienced.

Bambi Odunrombi and Emmanuel Makinde, both master’s students of Obafemi Awolowo University, (OAU) have emerged the winning team of the 2018 Design Genre Architecture competition.

Bambi Odunrombi and Emmanuel Makinde, both received a cash prize of ₦100,000; the second position went to Timileyin Adeniran, Tolulope Babalola and Kunlere Adetunji, all 300 level students of the same institution with a cash prize of ₦70,000; while Andrew Adejumo, Phillips Soetan and Adeola Oderinde also 300 level students of OAU emerged third position, getting a cash prize of ₦50,000.

On their winning strategy, Odunrombi and Makinde said:

“It was team work, keeping it simple in conception and building on existing frameworks. These were factors we think may have helped us to impress the judges and win the competition.”

The grand finale of the 2018 Design Genre Architecture competition, held at the OAU’s Architecture Department, witnessed 11 shortlisted groups making presentations on a project brief titled ‘Sustainable Design of a Mixed Use Complex in Downtown Lagos’. The contestants were asked to come up with ingenious building design that will combine residential, commercial and office structures using sustainable and environment friendly materials, among others.

The Managing Director, Design Genre Consultants, organiser of the competition, Mr. Anthony Okoye affirms his organisation’s desire to deepen the talent base of students by exposing them to real life architectural projects.

In his words:

“Our aim of supporting the design competition is to make sustainable design second nature to architects in Nigeria and also contribute to students’ education by deepening their knowledge and allowing these emerging architects the opportunity to gain exposure on real world projects which will in turn enhance the continuous sustainable improvement of the architecture profession.

We are happy first at the number of entries. We had well over 20 entries. We also observed the progress made by the contestants in their power point, 3D presentations and their sustained interest in the competition. This no doubt goes to confirm that our commitment to adding value to the practice of architecture in Nigeria is yielding positive results.”

The Business Development Manager, Mr. Dayo Oduleye stated on the Design Genre Architecture competition:

“We are sponsoring the contest to give back to the institution OAU because it is the alma mater of our Managing Director, Anthony Okoye and in the process we hope to observe and identify the natural talent of students just beginning their journey into architecture and get their fresh perspective on form and design. We hope to also make the competition more interesting next year by including as part of the price, a visit to some interesting architectural sites in Dubai, Europe and South Africa.”

Design Genre Consultants is an architectural consulting and construction firm established in 2008 with the aim of creating contemporary designs that suits the lifestyle of their clients. The company’s mission is to achieve excellence in all areas of endeavour while recreating a functional and aesthetically pleasant environment with designs ranging from residential building designs to public building designs.

Professor Aderemi Raji-Oyelade of the University of Ibadan, Oyo State, has emerged the recipient of the European Commission’s Erasmus+ Staff Mobility for Teaching Award.

The Erasmus+ programme is a funding scheme to support activities in the fields of Education, Training, Youth and Sport. Between February 20 and 22, 2018, Professor Aderemi Raji-Oyelade was awarded the prestigious 2017 Humboldt Alumni award and Humboldt Conference Award, which the scholar convened at University of Ibadan Conference Centre.

According to a statement by the Dean, Faculty of Arts, UI, Professor Ademola Omobewaji Dasylva, the Nigeria’s premier University is the only African country listed on the Erasmus+ Staff Mobility Grant (Project 2017-1-HR01-KA107-035107), referring to cooperation with higher education institutions, alongside other non-EU countries including Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Israel, Kyrgyzstan, Mauritius, Montenegro, and Russian Federation.

In the words of Professor Ademola Omobewaji Dasylva:

“Under the Key Action 1 Activity granted to Nigeria, among five non-EU countries, Raji-Oyelade will be Visiting Professor to Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, Croatia where he will teach African literature and cultural studies in the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences of UNIOS.”

The Erasmus+ programme awards financial supports to individual incoming and outgoing teaching and non-teaching staff mobilities, which objective is teaching or training at a selected partner higher education institution (HEI) in selected partner countries, for the purpose of studying or teaching at the University of Osijek, Croatia. The visiting scholarship will be utilized in May, 2018

The Vice Chancellor of UI, Professor Abel Idowu Olayinka while expressing his felicity on behalf of UI and its members, stated:

“Raji-Oyelade is a blessing to our university. He has brought many medals to our university. He is a good ambassador of the university. Raji-Oyelade is one out of the many reputable scholars we have in this university. I am always very proud of the Department of English Language of the University of Ibadan, which has produced international scholars like Professor Niyi Osundare, Professor Chinua Achebe, Professor Wole Soyinka, and Professor J.P. Clark.”

Olayinka added that another scholar that has brought glory to University of Ibadan, is Dr. Esther Eyiuche of the Department of Agronomy, who just won the 2018 Young Award by the Society for In Vitro Biology, SIVB, Raleigh, North Carolina, USA, in recognition of her contributions and achievements in the Vitro sciences.