Entrepreneurship - NEWS AGENCY OF NIGERIA

Philip Daniel Yatai
May, Mon, 2025

FCTA nurturing students’ creativity, entrepreneurship skills

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By Philip Yatai

The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has reiterated its commitment to scale-up programmes that cultivate students’ creativity and entrepreneurship skills to change the world.

Dr Danlami Hayyo, Mandate Secretary, FCT Education Secretariat, stated this in Abuja on Monday, at the grand finale and award ceremony of the FCT-Brunel Innovation Challenge.

The challenge was organised by the Brunel University Business School, London, and the FCT Education Secretariat to promote entrepreneurship among secondary school students.

Represented by the Director, Department of Higher Education, Mr Siyanbola Olumuyiwa, the mandate secretary said that FCT was building an education system that empowers young people with skills and confidence to shape the future.

He said that the students’ innovative ideas “is a testament to what is possible when education is anchored in innovation and supported by visionary leadership.

“This event represents more than the culmination of a competition but a celebration of creativity, resilience, and the limitless potential of our students to provide practical solutions to the challenges facing our society,” he said.

Hayyo commended the FCT Minister Nyesom Wike for his unwavering support for education, youth empowerment, and transformative partnerships.

“His leadership has continued to inspire bold initiatives that position Abuja not only as Nigeria’s capital but as a beacon of excellence in education and innovation.

“To our dear students, you are the heartbeat of this challenge.

“You have embraced new ideas with enthusiasm, tackled problems with courage, and shown us all what the future could look like through your eyes.

“Whether or not you claim the top prize today, know that you are already winners in our eyes and ambassadors of a new, innovative generation,” he said.

Dr Mohammed Ladan, Director/Secretary of the FCT Secondary Education Board, described the innovation challenge as a “place where creativity meets opportunity”.

Represented by Mrs Pamele Mbanefo, Director/Principal, Nigeria-Korea Model School, Abuja, Ladan stressed that ideas have the power to change the world, if properly harnessed.

“Today we gathered to explore new possibilities, disrupt conventional thinking and showcase the brilliance of minds who were determined to make a difference.

“This competition is not just about presenting ideas, but about practical solutions that address new world problems,” he said.

He urged students to think differently, push their limits to see how far their imagination could take them.

Glisten International Academy emerged winner of the competition with Government Secondary School (GSS) Gwagwalada and GSS Kwali as first and second runner up. (NAN)

Edited by Abiemwense Moru

Entrepreneurship: Glisten Int. Academy wins FCT-Brunel innovation challenge

Philip Daniel Yatai
May, Mon, 2025

Education

Entrepreneurship: Glisten Int. Academy wins FCT-Brunel innovation challenge

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By Philip Yatai

Glisten International Academy, Abuja, has emerged the winner of the FCT-Brunel Innovation Challenge, organised to promote entrepreneurship and innovation among secondary school students.

The challenge, titled “Building a Better Abuja,” was organised to encourage young Nigerians to explore their local environment, identify needs, and develop solutions using entrepreneurial skills.

The programme was a collaboration between Brunel University Business School, London, and the FCT Administration to foster entrepreneurship, sustainability, and innovation among Nigerian students.

Announcing the final results, via zoom, Dr Nan Jiang, Lead, Entrepreneurship Education Programme, Brunel University, explained that the Glisten International Academy won the challenge with a low-cost water purification solution initiative.

Their idea involved the use of chemical-free purifiers made from moringa oleifera, activated carbon, fine sand, and gravel, designed to provide affordable clean water to residents.

Jiang added that Government Secondary School (GSS) Gwagwalada came second with its plastic waste management and recycling innovation.

The concept involved collecting plastic waste and transforming them into useful products such as bags, flower vases, skipping ropes, baskets, torchlights, pencil and brush holders, and room decorations

The initiative aimed to provide sustainable income for the students while addressing plastic waste in local communities.

She also declared that the third position goes to GSS Kwali, for introducing a nutrition-rich poultry feed project aimed at improving poultry production in communities.

The feed is made from locally sourced ingredients like maize, papaya leaves, moringa, grain bran, soya beans, groundnut, and animal bone.

Jiang explained that the students were rated based on the statement of the problem, solution, target market business model, social and environmental impact, and alignment with SDGs.

Other criteria, she said, included team entrepreneurial experiences and skills among others.

The coordinator of the competition in FCT, Mr Musa Zuru, said that 26 schools sent entries for the competition, out of which five schools were selected.

Zuru added that the winner, the first and second runner up were selected from the five schools that scaled through the final.

He said that the goal of the challenge was to prepare future entrepreneurs who would use their creative thinking to solve societal problems.

Also, Mr Victor Oriafor, Principal, GSS Gwagwalada, said that the FCT Administration was determined to nurture the entrepreneurship mindset of students.

“What we want to see is a society where our young ones will become employers of labour rather than waiting for white collar jobs,” he said.

Speaking on behalf of the winning school, Fatima Abubakar of Glisten International Academy, who could not hide her excitement, described the feat as a “new journey” for the team.

She said that the FCT entrepreneurship development programme has given students a chance to bring out their creativity and scientific minds.

“The programme has given students a platform to express themselves and create something beneficial to the world.

“It has given room for students to express their creative thinking – what they want to add to the world and what they want to innovate for the world,” she said.

Similarly, Alade Joshua of GSS Gwagwalada, who spoke on behalf of the team, said that the school emerged the first runner up due to the commitment of the team.

Joshua, who commended the FCT for the opportunity to test their innovation and creativity skills, said that the school would do better in the next competition. (NAN)

Edited by Abiemwense Moru

Entrepreneurship: FCT students present innovative solutions to societal problems

Philip Daniel Yatai
May, Tue, 2025

Education

Entrepreneurship: FCT students present innovative solutions to societal problems

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By Philip Yatai

Some secondary school students from five schools in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) on Monday, presented innovative and entrepreneurial ideas to solve societal problems.

The presentations were made to officials of Brunel University, London, via Zoom, under the Nigerian-Brunel Innovation Challenge in Abuja.

The participating schools were Government Secondary School (GSS) Gudun-Karya, GSS Gwagwalada, GSS Kubwa, GSS Kwali, and Glisten International Academy, Abuja.

The challenge, titled “Building a Better Abuja,” encourages young Nigerians to explore their local environment, identify needs, and develop solutions using entrepreneurial skills.

Students from GSS Gudun-Karya presented a sustainable agriculture idea called “Project Green Tuition,” which aims to raise funds for education, especially among students from low-income households.

The project integrated palm farming with educational support, using income from palm products like palm oil, palm kernel, broom, and basket to pay school fees, targeting N2.17 million annually from 29 palm trees.

GSS Gwagwalada students introduced an idea on plastic waste management and recycling.

The concept involved collecting plastic waste, sterilising it, and transforming it into useful products such as bags, flower vases, skipping ropes, baskets, torchlights, and pencil and brush holders, room decorations.

The initiative aimed to provide sustainable income for the students while addressing plastic waste in local communities.

The GSS Kubwa team, “Team Lumina,” presented a mobile application that connects school dropouts with individuals, NGOs, and institutions to help them return to school and complete their education.

The app would generate revenue through subscriptions and downloads.

Students from GSS Kwali introduced a nutrition-rich poultry feed project aimed at improving poultry production in communities.

The feed is made from locally sourced ingredients like maize, papaya leaves, moringa, grain bran, soya beans, groundnut, and animal bone, and would be sold for N15,000 per 25-kilogram bag, generating a N2,000 profit margin.

Students of Glisten International Academy, Abuja, tagged “Cleandrops Initiative Team, presenting a low-cost water purification idea, designed to provide affordable clean water to residents, during the final lap of the Nigerian-Brunel Innovation Challenge, in Abuja.

The Glisten International Academy team, known as “Cleandrops Initiative Team,” proposed a low-cost water purification solution.

Their idea involved the use of chemical-free purifiers made from moringa oleifera, activated carbon, fine sand, and gravel, designed to provide affordable clean water to residents.

Dr Mohammed Ladan, Director/Secretary of the FCT Secondary Education Board, said the programme was collaboration between Brunel University and the FCT to foster entrepreneurship, sustainability, and innovation among Nigerian students.

He noted that 26 schools participated in the competition, out of which the five schools that scaled to the final stage emerged and presented their innovative ideas for assessment.

Ladan said that the challenge was designed to empower students to develop sustainable businesses that could thrive in both local and international markets.

He added that the FCT Administration was committed to ensuring that no student would graduate from secondary school without acquiring a skill.

“With these innovative and creative ideas displayed by the students, I am very confident that we will achieve that.

“We are also exposing students to international packaging for global markets, so whatever they produce will meet international standards,” he said.

Mr Musa Zuru, the coordinator of the competition, highlighted that the goal of the challenge was to uncover hidden talents among school students, enabling them to initiate and nurture business ideas for the benefit of their communities.

Mrs Helen Idakoji, Coordinator of the FCT-Brunel Innovation and Entrepreneurship Programme, stated that the innovation challenge would become an annual event aimed at sharpening students’ creativity and critical thinking.

She said that the top three schools would be exposed to industries in London, where they would receive support to turn their ideas into tangible products for both national and international markets. (NAN)

Edited by Abiemwense Moru

Philip Daniel Yatai
Apr, Tue, 2025

Education

FCT-UBEB promoting entrepreneurship in basic education for self-reliance

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By Philip Yatai

The Federal Capital Territory Universal Basic Education Board (FCT-UBEB) says it is entrenching innovation, technology and entrepreneurship in basic education to promote self-reliance.

Mrs Florence Wenegieme, Director, Science, Technology, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, FCT-UBEB, stated this in Abuja on Monday, at a two-day training of FCT teachers on innovation and entrepreneurship education.

Wenegieme, who represented the acting chairman of the board, Dr Dr. Alhassan Sule at the event, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), that the move was for children to drive solutions to societal problems.

She said that the innovation and entrepreneurship education was critical to achieving President Bola Tinubu’s “Renewed Hope Agenda”.

“FCT UBEB is building the capacity of our children to make them self-reliant such that a child that finished primary and junior secondary school should be able to do something for him or herself.

“We don’t want a situation where children will graduate from school and become redundant, after obtaining a certificate in basic education, a child should be able to fend for himself,” she said.

She said that initiative focuses on relevant vocational and entrepreneurial skills such as welding and fabrication, fashion design, plumbing, brick laying, electrical fittings, and hair styling among others.

According to the director, acquiring such skills will not only enable the children to be self-reliant, but also employ and train others.

She explained that the two-day training would equip the teachers with the necessary knowledge and skills on how to entrench innovation and entrepreneurship among pupils and students.

Wenegieme said that the FCT Minister, Mr Nyesom Wike, was doing everything possible to transform primary and secondary education in the FCT with focus on functional skills for national development.

Her counterpart at the FCT Education Secretariat, Mr kolawale Olobashola, said that the goal was to implant entrepreneurship education in the heart of school students.

Olobashola, the Director, Science, Technology and Innovation, added that with entrepreneurial skills, no FCT child would be a nuisance on the street. (NAN)

Edited by Ekemini Ladejobi

FCTA building entrepreneurship skill centre for secondary schools – Director

Philip Daniel Yatai
Apr, Tue, 2025

Education

FCTA building entrepreneurship skill centre for secondary schools – Director

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By Philip Yatai

The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) says it is building an Entrepreneurship Skills Development Centre to promote entrepreneurship education in secondary schools.

Dr Mohammed Ladan, the Director/Secretary, FCT Secondary Education Board, disclosed this in Abuja on Monday, on the sideline of a two-day training of FCT teachers on innovation and entrepreneurship education.

Ladan told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the centre, sited at Government Secondary School Giri, was expected to be ready by end of the year.

He said that the centre was being built in collaboration with Brunel University Business School, United Kingdom, which promised to furnish and equip it when completed.

He explained that the centre would serve as hub for entrepreneurship education for the 36 states of the federation and the FCT.

He added that the centre would also be used in the training of stakeholders and other entrepreneurship teachers in skill acquisition centres across the country.

He said “we are tired of students graduating without a job; we are tired of saying no job, no job, no job. Our students, this time around, will begin to create jobs for Nigerians.

“We want to tackle the problem of unemployment with Abuja as the lead.”

The director explained that what the FCTA was doing was to prepare school children to identify societal problems that could be solved with resources in the environment.

According to him, some of the students are already providing solutions, particularly in converting waste to wealth.

He identified some of the products being produced by the students as interlocks using waste nylon and polyethene bags, toilet paper from used cartons, sweet syrup from date fruits, and flowerpots, among others.

He added that the students were being equipped with entrepreneurial skills in welding and fabrication, fashion design, plumbing, brick laying, electrical fittings, shoe making, and hair styling, among others.

The director explained that the teachers training was the third in the series of training conducted to reposition FCT schools for innovation and entrepreneurship education.

“The first training was conducted for school principals, that is the administrators who are the accounting officers of schools.

“The second phase of the training was conducted for vice principal academics, who are the custodians of the entrepreneurship curriculum.

“The third batch, taking place today, is for teachers who would drive the programme and we have more than 400 of them from junior secondary schools, senior secondary schools and teachers from private schools,” he said.

Ladan added that the fourth batch would be organised for artisans to help in deepening skills development and help school children to realise their potential. (NAN)

Edited by Hadiza Mohammed-Aliyu

FCTA reaffirms commitment to vocational, entrepreneurship development in public schools

Philip Daniel Yatai
Feb, Fri, 2025

Education

FCTA reaffirms commitment to vocational, entrepreneurship development in public schools

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By Philip Yatai

The Education Secretariat of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has reaffirmed its commitment to vocational and entrepreneurship development in public schools.

The Permanent Secretary in the secretariat, Mrs Joy Okeke, gave the assurance at the inauguration of the third edition of Ladi Memorial Foundation National Sewing Championship, in Abuja on Friday.

Okeke said that the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, had been in the forefront of unwavering support for vocational education and skills development initiatives in the FCT.

She said that the minister was committed to youth empowerment through practical and entrepreneurial skills development.

She said that the invaluable contributions of stakeholders and continuous investment in skills development was fostering innovation and promoting self-reliance among young people.

The permanent secretary commended the organisers of the competition, describing it as a beacon of hope for aspiring young entrepreneurs in Nigeria’s fashion industry.

This, according to her, will promote innovation and economic empowerment.

Earlier, Dr Favour Edem -Nse, Director, Department of Mass Education, FCT Education Secretariat, said that the championship would help in nurturing creativity, innovation, and skills acquisition in the fashion industry.

Edem -Nse highlighted the significance of vocational training in driving economic growth and development.

According to her, the fashion industry plays a vital role in job creation and revenue generation.

She explained that the FCT Education Secretariat’s departments of Mass Education and Science, Technology and Innovation were critical stakeholders in the championship.

She pledged the continued partnership and provision of technical support to the organisers of the competition.

The director further reinforced the departments’ continued commitment to advancing vocational education and empowering young entrepreneurs in FCT.

On his part, Mr Kolawole Olobashola, Director, Department of Science, Technology and Innovation, said that the competition would promote vocational skills and foster entrepreneurship among young talents in the country.

Olobashola disclosed that the FCT Administration had concluded plans to establish vocational knowledge centres in each of the six area councils of the FCT to promote vocational and technical education. (NAN)

Edited by Folasade Adeniran

Brunel University, FCTA partner to commercialise students’ entrepreneurial ideas

Philip Daniel Yatai
Nov, Tue, 2024

Metro

Brunel University, FCTA partner to commercialise students’ entrepreneurial ideas

650 total views today

By Philip Yatai

The Education Secretariat of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) and Brunel Business School, Brunel University, London, have partnered to strengthen entrepreneurship among secondary school students.

Ainurul Rosli, Professor of Enterprise and Entrepreneurship, Brunel University, stated this in Abuja on Monday, at the unveiling of the Brunel-FCT Innovation Challenge, towards building a better Abuja.

Rosli said that the partnership was designed to transform students’ ideas to bankable products that solved societal problems.

She explained that the challenge was to encourage young Nigerians in Abuja to explore their local environment, identify needs and gaps and develop innovative solutions to improve their community.

“The students will assess what their local area offers, identify what is missing, and propose improvements or future development for the community to benefit through entrepreneurship.

“They will also explore science and technology-based products, services and innovations to address local challenges.

“The main goal is towards building a better Abuja for everyone, making it a safer, fairer, greener and more prosperous city for all Nigerians,” she said.

She said that the programme, which would run from January to March 2025, would be opened to all secondary schools in FCT.

According to her, the students will work in groups of five, to find solutions to local problems entrepreneurly.

Rosli added that Brunel team would mentor the students, through monthly online sessions, and guide the teachers and the students to upgrade and make their ideas commercial.

“The goal is to make sure that our students are equipped to become entrepreneurs by choice.

“This will not only support the economy of Nigeria but also empower communities to collaborate in solving local problems.

“Nigerian students have spectacular ideas, but the next step is how to support them to grow these ideas – how can we commercialise it; how can we make it better, and I think that is what we came here to do,” she said.

She said that making a better Abuja and better Nigeria was not only about coming up with a product, but the product that addressed community needs.

She, however, said that in doing this, the product should not hurt the environment and the people it was designed to help.

According to her, most of the previous entrepreneurship narrative is all about coming up with products to make money.

“I think entrepreneurship for better Nigerian and better Abuja is about the community and about the heart of Nigeria, in line with the nation’s anthem.

“If we can get children to solve the problems at the heart of Nigeria in Abuja, we will see a better Abuja and a better Nigeria.”

She disclosed that the partnership had also reached out to several partners, such as banks, government agencies, Abuja Chambers of Commerce, and Lagos Chambers of Commerce among others.

“These are the intermediary partners that we will be working with, and hopefully, some of the pitch that the students would come up with, would be commercialised with their support,” she said.

Also speaking, Mr Olobashola Kolawale, Director, Science, Technology and Innovation, FCTA Education Secretariat, said that the partnership had reinforced entrepreneurship training in FCT secondary schools.

Kolawale noted that entrepreneurship training in FCT schools was not yielding the desired results because of the gap between transforming ideas to reality.

He said that principals of secondary schools had been trained under the partnership on how to entrench practical aspects of entrepreneurship training in secondary schools.

“The partnership with Brunel University is already changing this narrative, because it has equipped us with practical knowledge on how to support students bring their ideas to fruition,” he said.

One of the trainees, Mr Musa Zuru, Principal, Government Secondary School, Kubwa, said that the training had helped him to support students to practicalise what they have learned.

“Now our students are thinking and promising solutions to environmental and community challenges profitably,” he said. (NAN)

Edited by Abiemwense Moru