Anambra rules The World – Uzor Maxim Uzoatu

Anambra State has put Nigeria on top of the technology map of the world after a global contest. Five students of Regina Pacis Model Secondary School, Onitsha, Anambra State who represented Nigeria and Africa at the World Technovation Challenge in Silicon Valley, San Francisco, USA have won the coveted Gold Medal on the night of Thursday, August 9, 2018. The date is now a part of history.  

The five stellar girls defeated other contestants from supposedly more technologically-advanced countries, notably host nation USA, China, Spain, Turkey and Uzbekistan. The five world-beating girls are Promise Nnalue, Jessica Osita, Nwabuaku Ossai, Adaeze Onuigbo and Vivian Okoye. They were led by their teacher Mrs. Uchenna Onwuamaegbu-Ugwu, the CEO of Edufun Technik STEM.

The girls beat all-comers in the World Pitch Challenge by developing a mobile application called the FD-Detector that tackles the challenge of fake drugs and sundry pharmaceutical products.

Acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, has since congratulated the young girls for doing Nigeria proud by winning the 2018 Technovation World Pitch in USA. Osinbajo posted the laudatory message under the picture of the girls as they were being decorated with their gold medals in the USA on his Twitter handle @ProfOsinbajo on Friday, August 10: “These young ladies in Junior Secondary School developed a mobile application called ‘FD Detector’ to tackle the problems of fake pharmaceutical products in Nigeria. Yesterday, they won the 2018 Technovation World Pitch in California. Congratulations.  We are proud of you.”

Governor Willie Obiano of Anambra State who had characteristically charged the girls to put Nigeria and Africa on the global technological map with their rare talent while sending them off to the United States in a ceremony at the last Executive Council Meeting is waiting to give the Golden Girls of Africa a landmark reception.

The world champions who spent five months researching and developing FD-Detector, which swept through over 2000 competing applications to get to the finals in San Francisco, are already attracting a lot of attention in Silicon Valley, the world’s greatest technological hub.

On their participation in the Technovation contest, team leader Mrs. Onwuamaegbu-Ugwu informs: “After we submitted our Mobile Apps online to compete with the rest of the world, our two Mobile Apps were shortlisted for the regional pitch in Abuja to compete with 36 other Teams/Mobile Apps.” She noted that the girls were the only ones coming from the entire Eastern region.

At the end of the regional competition in Abuja, the senior category took the 1st position while the junior category also placed 1st too. This qualified Anambra State for the semi-final, enabling them to compete with not less than 115 countries and about 1,500 mobile Apps.

According to Mrs. Onwuamaegbu-Ugwu, “The chances of emerging as finalists seemed very odd because other countries appeared to be more advanced in technology than these girls who for the first time are using the internet and opening an email account for the first time in their lives. The determination in them and the passion to solve problems of fake drugs kept their hopes alive as they knew it was a lifetime opportunity.”

After the world conquest, the girls will be attending field trips, and participate in life-changing workshops including a networking session during their one-week stay in USA. Then they will come home to Nigeria and Anambra State for the heroic welcome they deserve.

Now this: Miss Tochukwu Anyigbo, from Ihiala in Anambra State who is studying in Lagos, is participating in this year’s International Artificial Intelligence Competition in Mexico courtesy of Governor Willie Obiano of Anambra State. She will depart for the competition on August 14.