Orevaoghene
Whiskey of Top Faith International School, Akwa Ibom State, has been crowned
the best STEM student in Nigeria, following the conclusion of the fourth
edition of the InterswitchSPAK National Science Competition, a CSR initiative
of Africa’s leading integrated payments and digital commerce company,
Interswitch.
Whiskey, 16, won
the grand prize of N7.5 million in scholarship, among other exciting prizes,
making her the first female winner of the national competition show in its
four-year television run.
Coming in second
and third-place were Adesayo Elumaro of The Ambassadors College, Ota, Ogun
State, and Precious Akinyemi of Rhema Chapel International School, Oyo State,
who won N4 million and N1 million scholarships respectively.
With over 20,000
applications nationwide from secondary school students who were knocked out
during several pre-qualifying stages of the competition, the lucky winners
emerged tops owing to their outstanding performances in the competition at
different levels including the preliminary and semi-final stages.
The 13-week
show, which aired on both domestic and terrestrial television stations, is a
platform through which brilliant young Nigerians are encouraged and rewarded
for their quest for excellence in Science, Technology, Engineering, and
Mathematics (STEM) subjects.
Speaking on the
essence of the initiative, Oremeyi Akah, Chief Customer Experience Officer,
Interswitch, emphasized on the need for more young Africans to tow the STEM
path, thereby underscoring the goal ofthe InterswitchSPAK National Science
competition.
According to
Akah, “Research by the Africa Development Bank (AfDB) reveals that less than 25% of African higher
education students pursue STEM-related career fields.” Based on this premise,
she expressed concern about the retrogressive impact this could pose on Africa’s
talent pool which may not be opportune to acquire the necessary tech skills to
drive innovation on the continent in the near future.
However, she
submitted that through initiatives such as the InterswitchSPAK National Science
competition, hope holds sway because, “Interswitch is inspired by its
vision of a prosperous Africa, driven by the exchange of value and commerce; an
Africa where Africans are equipped with the requisite knowledge to solve the
unique challenges faced on the continent.”
She added that
the reward and prizes totaled at N12.5 million was a way to fund the
“dreams and aspirations” of the winners, as they work towards
creating an impactful future for Nigeria and Africa in general.
Last season,
16-year-old Jubril Dokun of Brainfield College, Salolo, Lagos State who snagged
the first prize, also emerged among the top ten (10) highest scorers in the
2022 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Exam (UTME).
With a vision of
a prosperous Africa, Interswitch has pledged to provide enabling platforms that
encourage the future generation of STEM professionals who will contribute to
the growth of Nigeria and Africa at large. This has been evidently demonstrated
with InterswitchSPAK rewarding 12 outstanding STEM studentsss with a total of N50
million over the last four years.
