16-year-old Jubril
Dokun, a student of Brainfield College, Salolo, Lagos State has emerged winner
in the third edition of InterswitchSPAK National Science Competition, the CSR
initiative of Africa's leading integrated payments and digital commerce
company, Interswitch.
After successfully scaling through multiple
rigorous stages in the competition, Dokun was awarded the grand prize of N7.5
million in scholarships, among other prizes.
The duo - Ayanlade Jesuferanmi of Obafemi
Awolowo University International School, Ile-Ife, and Omoniyi Qudus of Scholars
Universal Secondary School, Ota – clinched the second and third prizes,
receiving N4 million and N1 million in scholarships respectively, among other
prizes.
After a 13-week run on both terrestrial and
domestic television stations, Interswitch revealed the best science student in
the country during the last episode, which aired on February 5, 2021.
Over 18,000 students from various secondary
schools in Nigeria competed for the N12.5 million scholarships and other perks
attached to the top three positions in the competition.
As a pioneer tech company in Nigeria,
Interswitch remains committed to exploring the advantages of technology, as it
maintains its drive of creating a prosperous Nigeria and by extension, Africa.
To advance this goal, Interswitch is encouraging more African students to take
up STEM courses, as this has proven to be one of the drivers of thriving
economies around the world.
In his opening remarks, the Managing
Director, Payment Processing & Switching (Interswitch Purepay), Akeem
Lawal, reiterated the need for more African students to participate in STEM
fields. He described STEM as important in helping Africans solve unique
problems on the continent.
He said: "As our contribution to
closing this gap, we introduced InterswitchSPAK in 2018 because we realized the
critical role of STEM education to our country, and the continent, and its
importance to the future of Africa.
"Our objectives are clear – to
prioritise STEM in the education of the Nigerian child; fan the flames of
interest in STEM education, where it already exists; and to promote and reward
excellence in this field of study."
InterswitchSPAK, a collaborative effort of
Interswitch and JustMedia Productions, is a CSR initiative that is held in
Nigeria and Kenya annually. It has produced other winners such as Akachukwu
Anumudu of Apostolic Faith Secondary School, Lagos and Oyindamola Aje of Jesuit
Memorial College, Rivers in 2018 and 2019 respectively.
InterswitchSPAK continues to promote
Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education in Africa as
an engine of change.
At its core, Interswitch holds the belief
that change can be induced through STEM education, even as its benefits can be
targeted at the stimulation of growth in Africa. This belief underpins the
reason why the InterswitchSPAK platform was birthed.
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