Sixteen-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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