Winners have emerged in the annual national student entrepreneurship contest, the National Company of the Year (NCOY) competition, recently held online, and jointly organised by the Junior Achievement (JA) Nigeria and First Bank Nigeria.
According to the organisers of the contest, the aim of the competition was to give secondary school students the opportunity to develop critical thinking, speaking, teamwork/collaboration and leadership skills while demonstrating their innovation, grit and boundless potential of the Nigerian Youth.
The Executive Director of JA Nigeria, Foluso Gbadamosi stated that the NCOY provides students with a platform to show how innovative they are, while displaying their dexterity, especially as it relates to creating sustainable business solutions to problems in their immediate communities.
“The students have learned critical skills during the implementation of the Company Programme and we are proud to celebrate them as they compete in the national competition,” Gbadamosi said. “I would like to specially appreciate First Bank Nigeria for its continued support and belief in the boundless potential of young Nigerians.”
The Group Head, Marketing and Corporate Communications of First Bank, Folake Ani-Mumuney noted that First Bank’s partnership under its Future First initiative with JA Nigeria’s Company programme has positively impacted over 100,000 people in different locations across the country in preparing and teaching them how to generate wealth, effectively manage it and how to apply entrepreneurial thinking to the workplace.
“Our commitment to fostering entrepreneurial development amongst youths is mainly the driving force behind our support of the National Company of the Year and Africa Company of the Year competitions in the past 11 years,” Ani-Mumuney said.
The schools that participated in the competition and the student companies they formed in the course of the competition were: Government Girls’ Secondary School, Abaji, Abuja (Amazing Amazon); Igbobi College, Yaba, Lagos State (Artisans); Methodist Girls School (Port Harcourt, Rivers State (Blue crystal); Theological College of Northern Nigeria, Bukuru, Plateau State (JA Stars). Secondary School, Etoi, Akwa Ibom (KereTerra).
Others included: Rosa Mystica High School, Agulu, Anambra (Mystic Global); Queens School, Ibadan, Oyo State (Nexus Queens); Tech Petra Schools, Ota, Ogun State (PetraMech); Heritage Global Academy, Ikorodu, Lagos State (Sonic Informatics); Government Secondary School, Tudun Wada, Plateau State (The Amazing Inventors); Taidob College, Abeokuta, Ogun State (The Exploit Thinkers); Alvana High School, Owerri, Imo State (The Seer).
The competition was judged by Oludolapo F. Adigun, Group Head, Retail Banking Lagos and West, FirstBank Nigeria; Chidimma Juliana Okparah, Project Management Consultant (PMIEF); Chiedozie Dike, Sales Engineer, Emerson Automation Solutions; ‘Simbo Olatoregun, Policy Programmes Manager for Meta (Facebook) in Africa; and Sheila Ojei, Head of Communications, Jobberman Nigeria.
KereTerra student company of Secondary School, Etoi, emerging as the best student company and will be representing Nigeria at the African Regional JA Company of the Year (ACOY) Competition in the first quarter of 2022.
Sonic Informatics student company of Heritage Global Academy, clinched the 1st runner up position. The Exploit Thinkers student company of Taidob College, emerged as the 2nd runner up.
The most innovative award and the corporate social responsibility (CSR) award went to Sonic Informatics student company and KereTerra student company respectively.
JA Nigeria took the opportunity to celebrate the volunteers, teachers and schools that had distinguished themselves during the year, with Queens School, Ibadan, sweeping all three categories.
Kehinde Oluwabunmi emerged Volunteer of the Year; Physics Teacher Mr Subair I. Olayinka emerged Teacher of the Year; and Queens School, Ibadan, emerged School of the Year.
The virtual event was also attended by Aishah Ahmad, Deputy Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria; Oswald Osaretin Guobadia, Senior Special Assistant (Digital Transformation) to the President, Federal Republic of Nigeria; and Otuekong Ukut, Permanent Secretary, Technical Schools Board, Akwa Ibom State.
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