The Nigeria team, made up of some Nigerian students from Ibadan University, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria and Port Harcourt University, won the first place among more than 150,000 students who participated in the Cloud and Network exam in the Competition of TIC 2020 from Huawei. Students were honored for their achievements at an online awards ceremony hosted from Huawei’s headquarters in China.
The closing ceremony of the award ceremony held on November 14, 2020 at the Huawei Nigeria office (Abuja) was attended by the representative of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari (GCFR), Mr. Nasir Sa ‘ iduAdhama, Special Assistant for Youth and Student Affairs, the representative of the Honorable Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Ali Pantami, Dr. AbimbolaAlale, the Managing Director / CEO, NIGCOMSAT, the representative of the Executive Secretary of the National Commission of Universities (NUC), Professor Abubakar Rasheed, Mr. Chris Maiyaki, Executive Assistant Secretary of the NUC, some Vice Chancellors and university representatives, Huawei’s senior staff, award-winning students, teachers, parents, and the media.
This excellent performance is an outstanding improvement over last year in which the Nigerian team had emerged in third position in the same global competition. This shows the level of improvement that Nigeria has achieved in its knowledge of ICT in just one year.
Speaking on behalf of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari (GCFR), the Special Assistant for Youth and Student Affairs, Mr. Nasir Sa’iduAdhama, said: “I congratulate Nigerian students for going so far in this Global ICT Contest. I also thank Huawei for supporting our Nigerian students and I look forward to Huawei continuing to partner with the country to develop our ICT capabilities. “
On behalf of the Honorable Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, NIGCOMSAT Managing Director / CEO, Dr. AbimbolaAlale expressed his gratitude to Huawei for the opportunity given to Nigerian students to showcase their expertise globally and congratulated the students for bringing pride to Nigeria.
“I congratulate Huawei for organizing this ICT competition as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility efforts. We look forward to further collaboration between Huawei and the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy, ”he said on behalf of the Honorable Minister.
Mr. Chris Maiyaki, Deputy Executive Secretary of the NUC, speaking on behalf of the Executive Secretary, Prof. Abubakar Rasheed, said that “The National University Commission will rejoice with Huawei and the triumphant Nigerian students on this occasion: the Global ICT competition of Huawei – which is now highly regarded as the annual festival of knowledge. The NUC is honored to be associated with this success story. This shows that with the right environment and ecosystem, Nigeria can stand up to its global counterparts on any intellectual platform. “
Huawei’s ICT competition, which was established to foster ICT learning in Africa and to bridge the gap between theoretical study and practical experience in the industry, generally comprises a national preliminary competition, a regional semi-final and a global final.
Therefore, this global victory of these Nigerian students was preceded by a successful campaign both in the national finals that were held on December 10, 2019 and which had more than 23,000 Nigerian students in the competition and in the finals of the Competition. ICT from the sub-Saharan Africa region that was held on September 10 and February 11, 2020, with 123 student-talents from 13 sub-Saharan African countries, divided into 41 teams (28 on the net track and 13 on the track in the cloud), to determine who will be selected to participate in the finals of the Huawei Global ICT Contest.
Students who were excited to emerge first after more than 10 months of consistent hard work took pride in their accomplishments for themselves, their families, and the nation. Speaking at the ceremony, student representative Hamza Atabor said: “I would like to show my gratitude to Huawei, my Vice Chancellor, my instructors, teammates and my family for this great opportunity.
This journey with Huawei came with benefits such as professional certification in the field of interest. I am now HCIP certified in the field of routing and switching and in a few months I will get an additional level certification. “
“Huawei gives students the opportunity to learn skills recognized in the world of ICT. Huawei provides a platform where students can see and practice new innovative and cutting-edge technologies to grow and develop. For me, Huawei means H – hope for development, U – unique, A – available to all, W – global reach, E – Excellent in operations and I – smart in technology ”, he added.
Mr. Kelvin Yang, Deputy Managing Director / CEO of Huawei Technologies Company Nigeria Limited in his goodwill comment stated that “In more than two decades of operations in Nigeria, Huawei has been committed to training Nigerians in digital skills and cultivating ICT talents to build a digital economy.
We launched the ICT talent ecosystem development program so that local ICT talents can be nurtured and developed to the point of global recognition. We are very happy that this is starting to become a reality as we have gathered here today to celebrate and witness the excellent performance of our Nigerian students. “
“I want to take this opportunity to congratulate all the students who participated in this year’s competition … The knowledge and skills that you have gained from this competition will remain with you forever. You logged in for Glory and now the future is yours to take … [You] They are the future of this great country, Nigeria, and they have already begun to take pride in what the future holds for Nigeria as a nation. As a company, we hope that Nigeria’s digital youth will become the global pillar of the future, ”added the Deputy Director General.
Huawei has continued to encourage young Nigerians to embrace ICT learning by establishing ICT academies at approximately 79 universities and tertiary institutions in Nigeria, offering free digital training to more than 40,000 Nigerians, and many of those students trained They go on to take and approve various Huawei professionals. certification exams.
As of today, there are more than 180 instructors certified by the Huawei Academy. Through Huawei’s flagship program Seeds for the Future, every year Nigerian university students are sponsored by Huawei to China for a 2-week digital training together with other students from around the world.
Huawei has also gone ahead to continually provide jobs and internship opportunities to many students who have now become nationwide pioneers in technological advancement. Through the global ICT competition, Nigerian students have the opportunity to showcase their acquired knowledge and cultivated talents. The company has also helped increase digital literacy among ordinary citizens through other Corporate Social Responsibility activities.
