Nine students will compete in the grand finale of Nigeria’s most prestigious STEM competition organized by Interswitch, one of Africa’s top integrated payments and digital commerce companies, after the conclusion of the semi-final stage for the seventh edition of its flagship Corporate Social Responsibility initiative, the InterswitchSPAK National Science Competition.
A computer-based qualifying test was used to choose 81 exceptional students from Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones from the initial pool of over 18,000 registered senior secondary school pupils nationally. According to a statement released on Tuesday, 27 semi-finalists emerged from the preliminary rounds.
Nine finalists were chosen from this group following a very competitive examination procedure that assessed creativity, discipline, and scientific expertise.
Lyon Awhaisoba of Apt Scholars Universal College in Ogun State, Naetochukwu Ochi of Jesuit Memorial College in Rivers State, Saint Riman of Adedokun International Schools in Ogun State, Emmanuel Ashaolu of Welkin International School in Ogun State, and Gbolamiga Atekoja of Heritreats Private Secondary School in Ondo State are some of the finalists while David Solomonezemma from Deeper Life High School in Enugu State, Eke David from Marist Brothers’ Juniorate in Abia State, Chukwubudem Ezeobi from British Spring College in Anambra State, and David Okorie from Caleb International College in Lagos State completes the group.
Cherry Eromosele, Executive Vice President, Group Marketing and Communications at Interswitch, discussed the milestone’s significance and stated that the competition will continue to be crucial in forming Africa’s future talent pipeline.
The finalists will battle at the grand finale for prizes and scholarships worth more than N35 million. A laptop, monthly stipends, and N15 million tertiary education scholarship spread over five years will be awarded to the overall winner. The first runner-up will get a laptop and a N10 million scholarship spread over three years, while the second runner-up will get a laptop and a N5 million scholarship for one year. In addition to recognition for the top 18 semi-finalists and 27 teachers cum mentors whose mentoring helped the kids, additional cash awards will be awarded to finalists ranked fourth through ninth.
Through consistent investment in STEM education, InterswitchSPAK, now in its seventh year, has developed into a nationwide platform dedicated to fostering the next generation of scientists, engineers, innovators, and problem solvers.
