OCP Africa and BlackCountry Farms have been unveiled as the headline sponsors for Brightest National Agric Science Quiz Competition which is about to debut across top TV stations in Nigeria and Africa from Saturday April 6, 2024. Brightest, themed the biggest and most engaging high school competition with special focus on food production, preservation, and technology.
Agriculture is the foundation for civilization and a stable economy’. Industrial agricultural development in Africa has had very low offtake. For this to change positively, there is the need for Africa to start a deliberate agricultural revolution, which will invariably increase food production, processing and preservation using technology. This evolution brought about the Brightest National Agric Science Competition.
The Brightest National Agric Science Quiz Contest 1.0 started in October 2023, with 16,039 students from 2,559 schools involved and sitting for the National Qualifying Examination, an online series of tests conducted on the CruxCBT platform. At the completion of the tests, 81 students from across the six geo-political zones made the cut for the second phase of the competition where various amounts of university scholarships will be won by each of these students depending on their performance in the competition.
To usher them in, these students attended a special Brightest Masterclass 1.0 where OCP Africa Group; Backcountry Farms and Providus Bank had an interaction with the students on technology in agriculture.
In his session, Dr Donald Madueke, Head of Agronomy, Africa at OCP Group and Ms. Ifunanya Meka, Agronomy Service Officer took the students on an interactive journey of food production titled “From farm to table; the journey of our food”, where he analyzed the food chain process from planting to human consumption using technology.
He also emphasized on the symbiotic relationship between food, farmers and consumers. In his words, “knowing where our food comes from helps us appreciate the complex stages of food production and the need for agricultural knowledge by all. The students, in groups of 10, were given an exercise to choose their best food and give a five-minute talk on the process of planting and harvesting.
Ms. Alexis Udegbe, Head, Strategy & Growth, CoS, BlackCountry Holdings, engaged the students on different technology for different purposes and how it aids in farming both in plants and animal rearing. Ms. Olajumoke Adetola of Providus Bank lectured the students on “Financial Responsibility”. At the end of the Brightest Masterclass 1.0, there were questions and answers, as well as photo session with the students and sponsors.
Kiki Omeili, the Brightest TV Host anchored the event to the delight of the students. The connect became glaring as she was able to connect with these students based on her science background; being a University of Lagos trained Medical Doctor.
Part of the highlight of this maiden season of Brightest National Agric Science Competition is to crowdfund and raise N100m from well-meaning individuals and corporate organizations for the University education of these top 81 students and some of their outstanding teachers.
Brightest National Agric Science Competition is a creation of JustMedia Production, Africa’s biggest school based-content aggregator with projects, such as InterswitchSPAK National Science Competition Nigeria and Kenya; Cowbellpedia National Math Contest; MathContest Nigeria; Cruxlearning Math Contest Africa and WordSmith.
