Foremost African technology firm, SystemSpecs, says it is thrilled by the amount of entries it got from across Nigeria in its 2021 Children’s Day Essay Competition, themed “Building a more Secure Nigeria using Technology”.
In the competition, students wrote about how the country can overcome its present security challenges through technology.
Over 2000 entries were received from students between ages 9 and 16 from secondary schools in all the states of the country, including Borno State, the epicentre of Boko Haram’s deadly insurgency.
In a season whereby the security situation in the country is at its worst and the dangerous ethnic, regional and religious fault lines have become as wide as ever, the competition recorded a 30 percent increase from the previous year. The entries were sent online, via an internet portal.
These were the take outs from the award ceremony for the winners of the essay competition, an event that took place recently, at SystemSpecs’ headquarters in Lagos.
Now in its second year, the SystemSpecs Children’s Day Essay Competition is organized in furtherance of the technology firm’s commitment to the development of indigenous IT capacity for national prosperity.
The Managing Director of SystemSpecs, John Obaro, praised the patriotism and ingenuity of all the participants in the essay competition.
“For our dear children who have taken it upon themselves to think about the use of technology in addressing what is probably the biggest challenge of our country today, security, we say thank you.”
According to Obaro, it was great to receive diverse suggestions from children on how to solve this pressing national challenge.
“It has given us hope that we have a foundation on which we can build the future of the country,” he added
Executive Director of Strategy at SystemSpecs, Deremi Atanda, said the company is thrilled about the number of entries that came from Borno State, an area at the grip of Boko Haram’s deadly insurgency.
“It shows that even at times like this, people are interested in advancing national interest,” Atanda remarked.
He also praised the resilience of the participants and their schools.
“There were some schools that had just one entry, and you could see the weight of an entire community behind that single submission.
“Some went all the way to seek internet access in remote locations from them to send their entries. That resonates well with our objective of intervention in building capacity for the IT industry in Nigeria,” Atanda said.
12-year-old Chetachi Best Mbalu of Lagooz College, Iyana Ipaja, Lagos emerged winner in the junior category, while 15-year-old Uchenna Rita Ohiaeri of Queensland Academy, Okota, Lagos emerged winner in the senior category.
Besides the prizes presented to the winners, SystemSpecs donated 15 laptops to the winning school in the senior category, and 10 laptops to the winning school in the junior category.