The Nation Newspaper

Tag: challenge

  • 10 win cash-less eNNovation Challenge

    Nigeria’s cashless policy agenda received a boost recently when 10 young Nigerians emerged winners in the eNNovation Challenge, organised by the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement Systems Plc (NIBSS) with two global technology giants, Samsung and IBM.

    It is an online crowd sourcing contest, open to the public.

    “The contest seeks to promote the spirit of innovation, and showcase the depth and variety of talent available for cognitive cultivation in the national economy,” Ade Shonubi, Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer (CEO), NIBSS said.

    NIBSS conceptualised this pan-Nigeria, multi-disciplinary contest, collaborating effectively with IBM and Samsung to ensure that initiative benefitted from the global best practices and benchmarking standards of these two technology companies.

    The entries were adjudicated using several parameters, including creativity, uniqueness, practical application/impact and potential for commercial viability.

    “The contest was borne out of our proactive measure to solve some of the challenges posed by the nation’s cashless policy programmes,” Shonubi explained.

    Over 1,800 entries were received at the initial stage of the competition earlier this year. The screening and judging panel comprising top Industry executives from Central Bank of Nigeria, NIBSS, eTransact, Microsoft, Paga, Konga, Samsung, IBM, TEP, Dudu Mobile, and the immediate past MD of CitiServe Ltd. Shortlisted the best thirty entries from which the top ten ideas were selected from.

    Eventually, only four of the entries in the top 10 group met the project/judges’ pre-defined standards for ‘outstanding innovation’, earning each of them the top prize of N350, 000  in addition to other gift items. All the top ten finalists also received Samsung tablets, printers, notebooks and T-shirts.

    The prizes were presented to the finalists during the grand finale, an ideas and prize presentation of the eNNovation Challenge held in Lagos.

    This maiden edition of the competition succeeded in harvesting innovative ideas that tackle and resolve some of the obstacles against electronic payments, deepening and fomenting the culture of electronicand digital payment channels in the country.

    “IBM is proud to be associated with this laudable initiative which aligns superbly with our focus on promoting technology innovation and talent,” Taiwo Otiti, Country General Manager, IBM West Africa said.

  • Challenge of Tafsir

    It is understandable that most of the Tafsir books available in the world today are in Arabic language. The language of the revelation of the Qur’an is Arabic. Most of the companions of Prophet Muhammad (SAW) who interacted closely with him and were privileged to deeply understand, through him, the interpretation of the Qur’an were Arabs. Ditto the disciples who followed their footsteps.

    Arabic itself is exceptionally rich linguistically and literarily. And for centuries after the revelation of the Qur’an it was mostly the Arabs who assumed authority on its interpretation. Others, like the Persians (Iranians), the Indians and the Turks who tried to compete with the Arabs in that field, could only do so in Arabic language which they first had to learn as a second language.

    Thus, from the very beginning, Arabic had been the authoritative language of Tafsir. Whoever wanted to attain scholarship in the field of Tafsir must have mastered Arabic language. But the anomaly in that becomes very conspicuous when one remembers that over four fifth of the world’s Muslims today are non-Arabic speakers.

    This anomaly seems to be creating some hurdles for humanity in understanding the practical meaning of the Qur’an and in appreciating its real essence.

    There is nothing like being literate in one’s mother tongue. The Arabs have demonstrated this abundantly through Tafsir. But since Tafsir of the Qur’an is not meant for the Arabs alone, shouldn’t there be a means of making it available to majority of Muslims in the languages understandable to them?

    That is one major question which the global Muslim leadership was not able to answer for centuries but which technology has come to answer succinctly especially through the means of internet. Any Muslim scholar who is not computer literate today is therefore an illiterate cannot be strictly called a scholar.  

    In this computer age, the world needs the Qur’an more than ever before. And it is only Tafsir that can justify that need. Muslims and non-Muslims alike should be able to read the interpretations of the Qur’an in languages other than Arabic. More on Tafsir tomorrow.

  • Winners emerge in maiden Abacus Smartkids Challenge

    Pupils of Dome Private Schools Lagos State recently tested their speed and accuracy in solving mathematics questions during the maiden edition of Abacus Smartkids Challenge, an inter-school competition.

    At the end of the competition, which held at Princeton Schools, Lagos, winners emerged in various categories, all showing dexterity in the use of Abacus, a device made up of strings of beads within a frame used for counting. It is reputed for helping those trained in its use to solve mathematics problems mentally with great speed.

    Varrier Devesh, Director of Training, Edusoft Associates, organisers of the competition, said the contest provided a platform for schools to test the skills and speed of their pupils when given mathematics challenges.

    He added that Abacus will eliminate the phobia associated with Mathematics and replaces same with interest in the subject in a bid to lay a solid foundation for a lifelong pursuit of scholarly activities.

    “Beyond the use of Abacus as a tool to enhance the speed of thought, is the confidence its use gives pupils. And when they are not with the Abacus tool, they have already been imbued with the training so much so that their speed of thought is greatly enhanced as the kids have clearly demonstrated,” he said.

    Alhaji Jimoh Are, Chairman, Lagos State Chapter of the Mathematics Association of Nigeria (MAN), who was the grand judge of the competition, said the Abacus Smartkids Challenge is a welcome addition to the Mathematics calendar in Nigeria. “Abacus is so important to the counting system of the entire foundation of Mathematics that its importance cannot be overemphasised. The logo of the association, for instance, is an abacus,” he said.

    He enjoined Edusoft Associates to consider taking the competition nationwide in order to avail schools from other regions the opportunity of participating.

    “MAN has accepted that the competition should be nationwide so as to cover a larger segment of pupils. Children trained with Abacus are smarter and more intelligent,” he added.

    At the end of the Second Grade category of the contest, Goodluck Arowojolu (Princeton Schools) emerged winner, while Okereke David (Heyday School) and Ayanfe Atoki (Grandmate Schools) came second and third. Third Grade had these winners: Onuorah Williams (Heyday Schools), first; Onyeka Iwegbu, second, and Abudu Opeoluwa, (both of Princeton Schools), third. The fourth grade had Ike-Orji Kelechukwu (Heyday Schools) emerged as winner; Chisom   Epundu (Grandmate Schools), first runner-up, and Okere Kelechi (Princeton Schools), second runner-up.

    Chukusom Anyasom (Grandmate School) won the fifth grade category; while Ajayi Ayomide (Heyday Schools) and Denzel Bucknor (Princeton Schools), came second and third.

    Winners of various categories were presented with their awards.

     

  • Omo ‘ultimate showdown challenge’ berths

    Omo ‘ultimate showdown challenge’ berths

    Unilever Nigeria, maker of Omo detergent, has embarked on the ultimate showdown challenge across the country. The programme buttresses the fact that Omo, Nigeria’s top detergent brand for over fifty years, removes toughest stains in just a one wash.

    At the ‘Wash Demos’, members of the public will be invited to participate in the challenge and also express their observations as ‘Omo Fast Action’ detergent goes head to head with competition to settle once and for all which brand is the fastest tough stain remover.

  • Face up to the water challenge – Stakeholders urge politicians

    Face up to the water challenge – Stakeholders urge politicians

    Stakeholders in the water sector have expressed concern over the lack of interest in tackling water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) issues by politicians in the run up to the general elections. The various candidates vying for positions, they say, have not given priority to WASH in their campaigns. The stakeholders have called on candidates vying for various positions to include ways on how to tackle WASH issues in Nigeria rather than just to canvass for votes from the electorates.

    They explained that access to basic social amenities such as safe drinking water; sanitation and hygiene remain the responsibility of governments, whether federal or state.

    The Country Representative of an international agency, WaterAid Nigeria, Dr. Michael Ojo, said recently that Nigeria remains one of only a handful of countries around the world where access to basic sanitation is actually falling rather than rising.

    According to him, only 28 per cent of the population has access to basic sanitation (over 100 million people have no access to improved sanitation). He explained that access to sanitation has continued to decrease from 37 per cent in 1990 to 32 per cent in 2000 and just 28 per cent in 2012.

    Ojo said that 23 per cent practice open defecation (nearly 40 million people) while 36 per cent lack access to improved water sources (over 60 million)and around 68,000 children under the age of five in Nigeria die from diseases caused by the nation’s poor levels of access to water, sanitation and hygiene.

    These figures, he says, are alarming; adding that government at all levels must partner to improve access to safe water supply and sanitation. He stressed the need for politicians to not only seek for votes, he urged them to serve the people who put them there by providing services that will improve the lives of the people.

    He said: “We call on our own leaders here to embrace the spirit of the Kigali Action Plan and invest the resources needed to provide safe water, sanitation and hygiene for its people.”

    Although, issues of access to safe water supply, lies with the state, and local government, the Federal Government through intervention can assist. This is because most communities in Nigeria cannot be accessed by state or local government.

    For example, Wentul and Patishi communities, have same thing in commonalities: No water. No sanitation facilities. No medical care. These lack of basic social amenities make living a daily struggle. People in the two communities located in Pankshin Local Government, Jos South, walk a far distance before they can access water from a stream.

    The communities are in dire need of basic amenities of life. The women suffer most. An octogenarian was seen by this reporter, trying to fetch water from what looked like an underground stream. The water suffers in both quality and purity.

    Hashima, a 12 year-old SS3 student, is another member who lives in the community. She explained that she wakes up 5am daily in other to access water from the rustic well, not far from her house. The result is that she arrives at school late.

    “This is what I do every morning,” she explained in incoherent English. “I want the government to build hand boreholes for us so that we can go to school early.”

    Hashima’s concerns were re-echoed by Iliya Gowok, the chairman of the Parent Teachers Association in the community, who spoke for the village head.  “We need water, and sanitation facilities,” Gowok said. “We get water from our well and when they dry up we trek very far to the river to fetch water,” he continued.

    He explained that they have to go into the bush for defecation because they lack latrines. Asked if flies from the faeces don’t affect the water they drink, he said: “We are thinking of covering the water we drink. Our calabash too needs to be covered.”

    Asked if there are not water boards for the people to access safe water from, an official of the Water and Sanitation Unit (WASU), replied in the negative.

    “The water board does not supply water for two or sometimes in three months,” the WASU official who pleaded anonymity, told this reporter during a working visit to the state. “They base their excuse on money. Sometimes they will say they don’t have enough money to buy diesel. So our people are suffering here,” he stated.

    He explained that politicians in the state are busy deceiving electorates to vote for them again ahead of the general elections when they have failed to live up to the votes they got in 2011.

    According to him, issues of sanitation and hygiene have basically been abandoned by politicians in their campaigns. He criticised the state government and local council for failing to live up to their responsibilities.

    “Our government has made access to water and sanitation a luxury. It takes international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) like WaterAid to provide water for some communities in the state,” he concluded.

    On what can be done to provide safe water for both communities, The State Program Consultant, WaterAid,  Chukwuma Nnanna explained that both communities have been ‘triggered’ by the agency for immediate response.

    “We are working with partners in the state to make sure that people have access to safe water and sanitation. What you have seen today makes a strong case for not just increased investment but a strong advocacy to ensure that more of our people have access to water.

    “We are supporting partners to provide facilities to communities in the state. And the two communities we visited today have already been triggered. In the sense that we have come here through our partners to encourage them to stop open defecation, and to ask them to build latrines for them to use. Most importantly, the visit is to encourage the government, stakeholders, civil society organisations and everybody to come together and address the sanitation crisis.

    “Many of our people don’t have access to sanitation. Many of our people still struggle to have access to safe drinking water. And this is a big concern to us in WaterAid Nigeria and every Nigerian. We are inspired to increase our partnership and advocacy,” he added.

  • Challenge for digital minds

    Challenge for digital minds

    Google Students’ Club of the University of Ilorin (UNILORIN) has organised a digital marketing contest to hone the entrepreneurial skills of its members. AMINAT AFOLABI (400-Level Chemistry) and IFEOLUWAPO AKANO report

    How students can hone their entrepreneurial and digital marketing skills were the focus of Google Online Marketing Challenge, a contest held at the main auditorium of the University of Ilorin (UNILORIN) on Monday.

    Google is an online search engine and Internet firm, which renders wide range of services to users, including personalised blog sites and advert interface.

    Participants were given a $250 advertising budget, which they must use to advertise any business and non-profit organisation of their choice for three weeks. The contestants would use Google products and features, such as AdWords and Google+ to create online marketing interface with the aim to attract online traffic to the page and advertise its content to Internet users.

    Each contestant is expected to create his interface, after which it would be launched by Google Student Ambassadors, Patience Itodo-Ene and Abideen Olasupo. They would be rated based on their level of traffic they attracted to the page within three weeks.

    The Vice-Chancellor (VC), Prof Abdulganiyu Ambali, was represented by his deputy for Research, Technology and Innovation, Prof Nahimat Ijaiya. Prof Ijaiya said the university would support interested students to improve their knowledge in technology and entrepreneurship.

    Prof Ijaiya advised the participants to use the opportunity effectively as, noting that Information Technology (IT) was becoming a platform supporting the youth to be self-reliant after school. While encouraging them not to entertain laxity in their academic pursuits, Prof Ijaiya said the student must also develop their IT skills for their own benefit.

    Abideen said the contest had the objective to provide a unique opportunity for graduates and undergraduates to experience and create an online marketing using Google Adwords and Google+.

    He said: “The goal of the challenge is to target young people to improve their skills in advertising and helping clients who do not have experience in online marketing to advertise their products, help them build service database and make them self-reliant.”

    Abideen added that the participants would benefit from the challenge, which he said required dedication, interaction, co-operation and collaboration spirit. He enjoined the contestants to take the contest seriously to learn skills that could turn them to employer of labour after school. He urged the management to give its support to the contest.

    Highpoint of the event was the launch of Google AdClass, a series of interactive lectures aimed at introducing students to online marketing through Google advertising platforms.

    Jelil Adedoyin, an Adwords certified digital marketer, engaged the participants on the history and importance of gains of online marketing, noting that the rapid rate of internet usage made it imperative to use online medium to advertise wide range of products.

    Adedoyin, a graduate of Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), urged the contestants to take the challenge seriously, saying: “It would be an added advantage to individuals participating in the contest.”

    The series was scheduled to run for eight weeks and it will familiarise students with Google advertising tools, such as AdSense, AdMob and Analytics.

    Other guests at the programme included the Dean, Students’ Affairs Unit, Prof O.A. Omotesho, and the Sub-dean, Dr A. Yusuf, Dean of Faculty of Engineering and Technology, Prof Y.A. Jimoh, represented by the Sub-dean of the faculty, Dr T.K. Ajiboye.

     

     

  • ‘Mali challenge a big task’

    ‘Mali challenge a big task’

    Super Falcons’ Head Coach Edwin Okon on Thursday said having to face Mali in the All-Africa Games (AAG) and 2016 Olympics qualifiers was a big task for the African champions.

    Okon told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja they were, however, ready to surmount the task ahead of them, even though the timing of the team’s camping was unfavourable.

    NAN reports that the national senior women’s team, who are the reigning African champions, resumed camp on Feb. 22.

    This was in preparations for the 2015 AAG and 2016 Olympic Games qualifiers against Mali.

    “It is a very big task and we are in for it, because it is a must for us to qualify being the African champions and since all eyes will be on us, the coach said.

    NAN reports that the Falcons will play the first leg of the AAG qualifiers on March 22 in Bamako and the return leg in Nigeria two weeks later.

    “Though the timing of our camp is not favourable enough, we will still not dwell on that.

    “For now, we will dwell on our work rate at the training and see how we can match up with those who have started training before us,’’ Okon said.

    The first leg of the Olympic Games qualifiers on the other hand will hold on May 9 in Nigeria while the return leg holds in Bamako on May 16.

    “We know we have a lot of work ahead of us, but we are ready for it because we know the league has not started and if we should relax, it will be against us.

    “That is why we decided to start training by 3p.m. for now, to see if they can endure.

    “Once their endurance rate is good, whether or not the league competition is going on, we will pick up from there,’’ Okon said.

    The coach, who also handles Rivers Angels FC of Port Harcourt, however expressed satisfaction at the good turnout of the players at the camp.

    He said the invitation of new players was to give room for other players, apart from those who won the African Women Championship (AWC) with the team in October 2014.

    “I am a happy man with the response of the players who are injury-free, coupled with their response to training, and with what I have seen after two days, we are good to go.

    “And I invited new faces because I am looking for the best. If they are serious, I can as well drop those who went with me to Namibia.

    “There is no permanent room for anybody here in our camp. It is a free ground. So, we are not biased, we want everyone to come in and show us what they have,’ Okon said.

  • ‘Erratic power supply challenge to digital press’

    The Chief executive Officer, Skysat Technology Limited, Mr. Izzat Debs, has identified erratic power supply as one of the major factors inhibiting the growth and prosperity of digital commercial press in the country.

    Speaking on the sideline with The Nation at the launch of Konica Minolta Bizhub Press C1100 digital printing machine in Abuja, Debs said the job creation potential of digital press cannot be overemphasised, adding that the young crop of digital printers in Shomolu, a Lagos suburb, started out with products from Konica Minolta and graduated to be what they are today.

    He said though the government has been trying its best to fix the challenge in the power sector, more still needs to be done to encourage small and medium scale (SMEs) play more significant role in the digital printing space.

    He said:  “Of course, if the government can really resolve the power issue, there will be so many commercial presses that will be opened. Power is something that is challenging for everyone.”

    He said the firm has made local human capital development the cornerstone of its operations in the country as 90 per cent of the engineers that offer after-sales services for the machines are from Nigeria.

    Debs said: “Our engineers are 90 per cent Nigerians though with foreign technical support. This is one area we emphasis on. We take a lot of Nigerians to Germany for training. The engineers are already on the field. They are trained specifically to handle any issue concerning the machine should the need arise at all. They are comprised of technical team with certificate from Konica Minolta. Every one of the engineers has their own levels such as masters and so on.

    “Our engineers have already completed examination on Konica Minolta. We are not only doing product certification, we are also doing technical certification on Konica Minolta to service those machines.

    “Over the past few years too, we have helped to create employment opportunity for young Nigerians.”

    Speaking on the machines, he said they are the latest technology in town and built to take care of the power realities in the country. According to him, the warranty that the firm received its manufacturers from overseas is three months, adding that training of the final consumers of the product is part of the deal.

    “We do a lot of training for the operators. It is all part of the package that we sell. We don’t just sell these printers to you, we also train the operators so they know how to use the machines and they reduce the minimum level of down time and break downs. “There is also the service agreement with the customers that could be signed in the contract. It could be yearly service agreement in which case, for one year, your machine is always taken care of. For us, we feel duty-bound to give the best to our customers.”

    On availability of consumables, he said the service centres of the firm are spread all over the country. “We have offices in Lagos, Victoria Island and Ikeja; we have in Abuja, Kano, and Port Harcourt and in more remote areas, we need to send the goods by air transportation so the down time is reduced to the barest minimum. We have very big stock of consumables available in all service centres to make sure that the customer doesn’t have any interruption in the process of production,” he said.

  • Opponents challenge Yero’s re-election bid

    Opponents challenge Yero’s re-election bid

    Kaduna State Governor Muktar Yero’s bid to contest next year’s governorship election has not been a smooth sail. He took over power on December 16, 2012, shortly after the demise of Governor Patrick Yakowa. MUSA ODOSHIMOKHE chronicles his ordeal so far, particularly with regards to his party’s governorship primaries. 

    Governor Muktar Yero of Kaduna State would be testing his popularity in the forthcoming governorship primaries of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) scheduled for next Monday. This is owing to the fact that other governorship aspirants within the party are not in the mood to allow Yero a smooth sail to continue as the governor. Yero assumed office as governor on December 16, 2012, following the tragic death of his predecessor, Patrick Yakowa, in a helicopter crash.

    Four aspirants are contesting against him during the governorship primary. They are: Hassan Felix Hyat, Senator Haruna Zego Aziz, Ismaila Yakawada and Jimmy Dung. The contestants cut across religious and tribal lines.

    In the build up to the contest, Governor Yero has been accused of trying to manipulate the process, by hand-picking the delegates to the recent party congress; to ensure that he realizes his ambition. The congress has been criticised as lacking in democratic principles. Three of the aspirants, Hyat, Aziz and Yakawada, which made their position on the primaries known at a press conference in the state capital recently said it fell short of the people’s expectation.

    The aspirants have decided to close ranks over the matter, to counter Governor Yero’s alleged antics over the primaries. After their meeting, they urged the leadership of the PDP to address the issue as matter of urgent importance. They alleged that the irregularities observed during the congress must be tackled, if the party would have a good outing the next year’s elections.

    At the conference, Dung alleged that names of delegates were written before the actual congress. According to him, it negates the principle of fairness and justice. He said the outcome of the delegate’s congress was beyond the people’s comprehension.

    He said the process was a fraud because the names of delegates approved were prepared from Government House; with loyalists of the governor and Vice President Namadi Sambo making the list.

    The aspirants believe that it would only be fair when a properly conducted congress was allowed to produce the delegates, noting that the aspirants would not condone act of impunity being displayed by the government.

    Yakawada believes the idea of automatic ticket being proposed for PDP governors just completing their first term by the party leadership is a farce, and that it is unacceptable.

    He added that aspirants in Kaduna were prepared to slug it out with the incumbent at the primaries, urging the party hierarchy to provide a level-playing ground for the contestants.

    He said if there was no proper election and consensus to elect delegates for elections in the party, the party’s professed stance of practicing internal democracy was an illusion.

    He added: “I can inform you that there was neither consensus nor election where members agreed that the adopted delegates would represent us during the primaries; they are not the choice of the people.”

    But, the Kaduna State PDP Publicity Secretary Ibrahim Mansur has faulted the aspirants, saying they were being economical with the truth. He described as baseless the allegations that the party leadership in the state and Governor Yero hijacked the process leading to the delegates’ congress.

    Mansur urged party members to sheathe their swords and work for the unity of the party in the forthcoming polls. He said it is only a united PDP that would ensure continuity and that the division in the party would be too costly.

    Some aspirants from the fold had earlier crossed to the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC), alleging that they fear they would not have fair treatment in the primaries.

    A former House of Representatives member, Jagaba James Jagaba, equally dumped the PDP because of what he described as Yero’s antics to hold on to power without popular wish.

    The infighting within the party has brought division along ethnic lines, resulting in the formation of alliances and counter alliances.

    Despite the re-alignment of political blocs to ensure that the alleged flawed congress does not have negative consequences on the coming primaries, stakeholders are keenly interested in who pilots the affairs of the state from next year.

    Ahead of next Monday’s primaries, all the aspirants have agreed to present a united front, by bringing one person forward as a consensus candidate to challenge Yero at the contest.

    Political analysts believe the PDP is shooting itself in the foot, by going into the primaries divided.

    At one of the meetings attended by various interest groups, Senator Aziz was tipped as the aspirant to slug it out with the governor. The meeting which had in attendant four aspirants from Southern Kaduna, religious bodies, youths and elders drummed support for the consensus arrangement, saying it would help to thwart the plan of the incumbent governor.

    In a communiqué presented after the meeting, the Southern Kaduna Christian Leaders Council, the Northern Christian Elders Forum, South Kaduna Indigenes Progressives Forum, South Kaduna Peace Initaitives, Gurara Forum and other organisations, urged the people to put aside their differences for the common good.

    They said the decision to present a common front in the coming primaries was deliberate and that it would brighten the chances of the aggrieved aspirants; as one of them would be a beneficiary of the arrangement.

    The associations believe it would reduce the bickering associated with politicking and reduce the cost of electioneering in terms of finance.

    They said: “While it is easy for the other contenders who have agreed to step aside, the onus of collective purpose and communal welfare must be seen to take precedence in order to have one candidate to contest with the incumbent at the PDP primaries scheduled for December 8.

    “With this heart-lifting and very promising development, a new Southern Kaduna is born. The depth of our disunity is in the process of being jettisoned for the common purpose. We can now see the light at the end of the tunnel.

    “Consequently, we are appealing to all to support the candidature of Senator Aziz at the primaries to achieve our objective of him becoming the PDP flag bearer in the coming elections in February 2015,” the communiqué stated.

  • Entries open for Chemistry Challenge

    Interested SS2 and SS3 pupils have until November 24 to register for the PZ Cussons Chemistry Challenge 2014 online or at the Ministry of Education and the six education districts.

    The first stage of the competition, which is a written examination, would take place on November 29 in 10 centres across the state.  The top 100 in the examination will move on to the second stage.  The top four in the second stage will win a place in the final, which will feature practical chemistry problems.

    Winner of the competition will receive N700,000, a laptop, trophy and gold medal.  The first runner-up will receive N500,000, a laptop and silver medal; the second runner-up will get N400,000, a laptop and bronze medal; and the third runner-up will be rewarded with N300,000, a laptop and a consolation medal.

    Prizes will also be presented to the respective Chemistry teachers and schools of the four finalists. The Chemistry teachers of the winners will win between N60,000 and N100,000 while Chemistry books of the same value will be presented to the schools.

    Explaining why the competition enjoys the support of the PZ Cusson Foundation, Mr Tunde Oyebola, a member of the foundation’s Board of Trustees, said at a stakeholder’s engagement forum last week that   the aim is to get pupils interested in the sciences.

    “This is one of the corporate social responsibility initiatives of PZ Cussons Foundation and its general objective is to stimulate interest in chemistry,” he said.

    Mrs Yomi Ifaturoti, PZ Cusson’s Director of Corporate Affairs and Administration added that it is an effort to encourage more students to study Chemistry.

    “A lot of students are running away from the sciences.  We need to encourage them to study sciences,” she said.

    In the inaugural edition, Emmanuel Ejiogu Onyekachi of Miketoy College, Ikotun, Lagos State won the competition.  The runners up were: Obi Uchenna David of Barachel College, Ifako-Agege; Mgbemena Thankgod of Leeland International College, Oregun-Ikeja; and Victor Ike-Okoro of Top Grade Secondary School, Surulere.