Brunel University Organises Entrepreneur Challenge For FCT Secondary Schools

In its drive to get the best school to represent the FCT in London, 26 secondary schools have keenly contested in the “Entrepreneur Challenge Competition” to showcase their skills.

The ‘Entrepreneur Challenge’ is part of the MOU signed by the FCT Education Secretariat with Brunel University Business School, London.

At the event held in Abuja, the competition provided an opportunity for young, business-minded students who had undergone innovation and entrepreneurship education training to make various presentations and showcase their economic value and products.

Part of the challenge for young student entrepreneurs was the ability to identify a problem in their community and apply their talents to proffer solutions to such societal problems, while also earning from them.

Speaking via Zoom, the judges of the keenly contested competition from Brunel University Business School, London, acknowledged that all the students performed exceptionally well and eventually selected five presentations as the best.

The Brunel University partners announced that the five schools that emerged best in the competition will go through another round of contest on the 12th of May, 2025, to determine the overall winner.

The schools includes Gudun Kariya Secondary School, which made a presentation on planting palm trees to solve the scarcity of palm oil while Government Secondary School Gwagwalada, did a presentation on plastic waste management and how it promoted a ‘waste to wealth’ initiative in Agwandodo community and other areas of Gwagwalada.

Government Secondary School Kubwa addressed the issue of “out of school children” by connecting disengaged or less privileged students who could not pay their bills, to non-governmental organizations.

For Government Secondary School Kwali, the young entrepreneurs produced poultry feed made from locally sourced materials, an initiative to help poultry farmers address the high cost of feed while promoting healthy bird growth to enhance food security.

Glisten International Academy, Abuja, made a presentation on “sustainable innovative low-cost water purification,” currently addressing the lack of purified drinking water in the community.

In his remarks, the Director/Secretary of the FCT Secondary Education Board (SEB), Dr. Mohammed Sani Ladan reiterated the Board’s commitment to championing innovation and entrepreneurship education in FCT schools to build a generation of potential entrepreneurs who will be job creators rather than job seekers.

Dr. Ladan also announced that a team of students from Maitama-Pyakassa Secondary School will be travelling to South Africa for another competition today.

He expressed appreciation to the FCT Minister, Dr. Nyesom Wike, for consistently approving funds for students to participate in competitions abroad.

Also contributing, the Coordinator of the Nigeria Innovation Challenge, Mr. Musa Nuhu revealed that the FCTA is currently building a centre where students can carry out practicals, aiming to explore their hidden talents to meet the demands of the 21st century.

Speaking on the benefits of the MOU with Brunel University, the Deputy Director and Coordinator of the programme, Mrs. Helen Idakoji expressed delight that the products of the three winning schools will be connected to industries in London.

According to Mrs. Idakoji, the initiative of inculcating entrepreneurship education in secondary school students to catch them young, would go a long way in changing the narrative that Nigerian schools are churning out half-baked graduates.

Remi Johnson, Edited By Grace Namiji