New Horizons takes Nigeria to Microsoft global IT contest

Nigeria’s leading Information Technology training organisaton, New Horizons, is taking Nigeria to a global Information Technology contest by fully sponsoring another Nigerian Secondary School prodigy, Oluwatobi Ed Adetula, from Woodland Hills High School, to represent Nigeria in the 2016 Certiport Microsoft Competition.

New Horizon is also sponsoring the chaperon or guidance of Adetula to accompany the award-winner to the event holding in Orlando, Florida, United States, later this month.

New Horizon said the sponsorship is in furtherance of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) towards youth empowerment and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) penetration in Nigeria.

Adetula emerged top in the final of the Nigerian National Edition of the Microsoft Office Specialist competition that saw the participation of 200 students from different secondary schools across the country.

This year Certiport’s competition marks the 14th anniversary of the global competition, while New Horizons has consistently sponsored school youths in the last six years.

Adetula, who has emerged Nigerian representative, will be competing against other national champions from other countries to demonstrate their mastery of Microsoft Office products.

Globally, the world championship attracts more than 400,000 candidates from 130 countries.

According to the New Horizons Chief Executive Officer, Mr Tim Akano, “as a company, we believe ICT sector, as one of the most viable solutions to Nigeria’s current economic crisis, is to reposition its economy from an oil- dependent nation to an ICT-producing nation such as Israel, South Korea and India.”

He, however, noted that this can only happen if children were given quality ICT education from primary school to university level.

“This is why, for the past 11 years, New Horizons Nigeria has taken it upon itself to champion this noble cause by focusing on massive ICT education across board.”

He restated the company’s commitment to helping Nigeria produce more people such as Chinedu Echeruo, the Nigerian-born ICT professional based in the United States, who, in 2015, sold his company to Apple for $1 billion.