7 Nigerian Students Will Compete At The FIRST Global Robot Olympics

May 2, 2017 naijalife

Every time we talk about Nigerians doing great things, it’s monumental because of the conditions in which they typically have to rally against. The average Nigerian can reel off a list of reasons why the country is not set up for her citizens’ success, but they break through nonetheless.

This summer, seven young Nigerian students will be representing the country at the FIRST Global Robot Challenge slated to hold in Washington, US. They will be competing with students from 149 other nations. The students; Ayomide Adetunji, Oluwateisimi Adegbamigbe, Umar Ayodeji Fahad, Omotayo Oluwaseun, Toluwalase Agoro, Tawakalitu Giwa and Adeniji Talabi, were picked from secondary schools across Lagos.

According to Mrs Remi Willoughby, the coordinator of the First Global project in Nigeria:

“We need to fully address the evident deficit in science, technology, engineering and mathematics in our educational system. Research has shown that children will rather take courses in arts and commercial subjects than these ones.

Unfortunately this is not helping us. The government needs to find a way to encourage more students to take these courses in the secondary and tertiary institutions.

We have gathered some of the best students in robotics to represent Nigeria in Washington. These students were picked based on their interest and performances in past competitions in Nigeria and internationally.”

The students have been working out of a tech studio in Lagos, since January, mastering the rudiments of robotic design through tutorials in maths, physics and engineering and programming languages like Java. They also just concluded an exhibition of their robotic technology ahead of their global showcase.

Founded by philanthropic inventor, Dean Kamen, FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Global is an Olympics-style robotics event that drives home the importance of obtaining the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics skills needed by young people to overcome the greatest challenges facing our world now and in future.