Daniella Soja, an 11 year old girl, Idrees Najeer and Ujunwa Madi have bagged World Child Innovation cash prizes awards and other support materials to assist them to continue to innovate.
The award is the brainchild of Turkey’s Elvan Groups founder, Mustafa Kadiroglu, an entrepreneur and innovator.
Daniella Soja is the first place winner. She is a student of Dansol High School, Ikeja, Lagos State. She uses home-made materials such as toothpicks and matchsticks to design artwork, and has sold over 1,000 artworks. She won $1,000.
Idrees Najeer is a student of Glisten International Academy, Abuja, and finished second and won a cash prize of $500. He built a helicopter out of disused materials.
Ujunwa Madu is a student of Spring of Life International School and finished in third place, winning $250. She created an interactive game using Scratch, a software programme developed by MIT, which she learned through the Africa Code Week programme, a continent-wide SAP initiative.
Speaking during the programme, an Assistant Director at the Federal Ministry of Education, Mr Kola Osundeyi, described the creative works submitted by kids from all over Nigeria as a testament to the bright future that lies ahead of the country: a creative, knowledge-based economy principally driven by innovators.
He said that the programme aligns with the Ministry’s desire to strengthen the education structure in the country and increase innovation and creativity among students.
“We will not rest on our oars, especially in enlightening the entire citizenry on the importance of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education to nation building. This Ministry is committed to projects that offer opportunities for young people to display entrepreneurial and strong innovative prowess that can be commercialised,” he said.
Africa Code Week is an initiative that was launched in 2015 by SAP. It brings together hundreds of schools, teachers, governments, businesses and non-profit organisations to empower young people acrpss Africa with digital literacy skills.
