Segun Balogun, Adewale Saliu and David Onukwugha, three students from Greensprings School, Lagos will represent Nigeria at the global Conrad Summit scheduled to hold at NASA’s Johnson/Kennedy Space Center in the United States of America.
The three students were selected to represent Nigeria after emerging as Nigeria’s overall best at the 2023 Conrad Challenge held in February. The trio won $298,000 worth of scholarships for their college tuition, an exclusive invitation to represent Nigeria at the Global Conrad Summit in April at NASA’s Johnson/Kennedy Space Center, USA, and ₦1million cash prize.
At the competition, the students represented their school as Team S.A.D – an acronym they formed using the first letter of their first names and they created a smartphone application that connects craftsmen with people who need their services.
Speaking on Greensprings School’s participation in the challenge, Feyisara Ojugo, acting deputy director of Education, said the school presented five teams out of the 230 teams from several schools that participated in the competition. While four of the five teams made it to the finals, with Team S.A.D emerging as the best in the cyber-technology and security category, and the best in Nigeria thus claiming the grand prize after weeks of rigorous efforts.
“Apart from the awards given to the winning team, each of the 15 students that made up the four finalist teams received $60,000 worth of scholarships from Clarkson University and awards of excellence,” Ojugo said.
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Expressing her pride in the students’ accomplishments, Ojugo said that beyond winning the competition, she is pleased that the students were able to develop an app that would help to solve a specific challenge in the country by connecting craftsmen with people who need them, thereby giving access to a larger market without the limitations of geographic location.
According to her, it also enables instant access to the services of the craftsmen at the convenience of the customers, without the hassle of driving around endlessly in search of workmen.
She added that the students are able to apply what they learn in the classroom to solving societal problems.
“Beyond developing the winning app for the competition, our students have put out a service through tech to help link artisans with those who need their services promptly and efficiently,” she said.
Ojugo said the school embedded coding in its curriculum as a core subject that all students should take. “This is hinged on our understanding of the fact that coding is the language of the future. I am happy that the students are taking what they learn in the classroom to solve real-life problems. I can only look forward to more achievements from our students. A big congratulations to the winners of this year’s Conrad Challenge,” she added.
The Conrad Challenge is a purpose-driven innovation competition with the aim of creating the next generation of entrepreneurs who will change the world. Greensprings School was established in 1985, and today, it is regarded as one of the leading schools in Nigeria.
