KereTerra student company of Secondary School has emerged overall winner of the 2021 National Company of the Year (NCOY) competition jointly organised by the Junior Achievement (JA) Nigeria and First Bank Nigeria.
According to the organisers of the contest, the aim of the competition was to give secondary school students the opportunity to develop critical thinking, speaking, teamwork/collaboration and leadership skills while demonstrating their innovation, grit and boundless potential of the Nigerian Youth.
Sonic Informatics student company of Heritage Global Academy, clinched the first runner-up position. The Exploit Thinkers student company of Taidob College, emerged as the second runner-up.
The most innovative award and the corporate social responsibility (CSR) award was received by Sonic Informatics student company and KereTerra student company respectively.
JA Nigeria took the opportunity to celebrate the volunteers, teachers and schools that had distinguished themselves during the year, with Queens School, Ibadan, receiving all three categories.
Kehinde Oluwabunmi emerged Volunteer of the Year; Physics Teacher Mr Subair I. Olayinka emerged Teacher of the Year; and Queens School, Ibadan, emerged School of the Year.
The schools that participated in the competition and the student companies they formed in the course of the competition were: Government Girls’ Secondary School, Abaji, Abuja (Amazing Amazon); Igbobi College, Yaba, Lagos State (Artisans); Methodist Girls School (Port Harcourt, Rivers State (Blue crystal); Theological College of Northern Nigeria, Bukuru, Plateau State (JA Stars). Secondary School, Etoi, Akwa Ibom (KereTerra).
The Executive Director of JA Nigeria, Foluso Gbadamosi stated that the NCOY provides students with a platform to show how innovative they are, while displaying their dexterity, especially as it relates to creating sustainable business solutions to problems in their immediate communities.
The Group Head, Marketing and Corporate Communications of First Bank, Folake Ani-Mumuney noted that First Bank’s partnership under its Future First initiative with JA Nigeria’s Company programme has positively impacted over 100,000 people in different locations across the country in preparing and teaching them how to generate wealth, effectively manage it and how to apply entrepreneurial thinking to the workplace.
According to Folake Ani-Mumuney:
“Our commitment to fostering entrepreneurial development amongst youths is mainly the driving force behind our support of the National Company of the Year and Africa Company of the Year competitions in the past 11 years.”
