Three secondary schools in Sokoto have won projects exhibition contest organised by the state University Students International chapter of the American Chemical Society.
Two students of Alheri Schools, Guiwa and a student of Airan International School Bado, all in Sokoto, won the Society’s 2021 Global Challenge Science Fair for Young Scientists project exhibition contest.
In the exhibition which had eight contestants with different innovations, Ahmed Mohammed of Alheri Schools, emerged first position; Safiya Aminu of Airan International School, Bado, came second and Fatima Bala of Alheri Schools emerged third.
The first position won a prize of N120,000; second position went home with N100,000, while the third position got N80,000 with additional donation of N10,000 each from the Department of Chemistry of the University.
In their separate remarks, the Head, Department of Chemistry and Dean, Faculty of Science, Sokoto State University, Dr Mansur Ibrahim and Dr. Muhammad Sirajo said the vision of the competition was to allow all eligible science students in the state to participate and improve their performance in chemistry.
According to them, the Society’s initiative is to arouse and reawaken student’s interest in chemistry as a course of study among secondary school students as a roadmap to the nation building.
On her part, the Commissioner for Science and Technology, Dr Kulu Abubakar, represented by Khadija Bako said the competition is a good step in the right direction.
She stressed that practical science subjects or courses should be put above theories.
She explained that the competition should be routinely done to harness students’ talent for national development.
Also speaking, the Commissioner for Higher Education, Prof. Bashir Garba, who was represented by Dr Saidu Isa, encouraged the participating students to do more.
Prof. Garba advised them to study hard, adding that the exhibition was encouraging and interesting.
Earlier, the Vice-Chancellor, Sokoto State University, (SSU) Prof. Sani Dangoggo, represented by the Dean, Faculty of Education, Dr. Nasiru Tambuwal thanked the Society for organising the competition, noting that the gesture would improve the students’ practical skills in science subjects.
He therefore, urged the organisers of the event to maintain the tempo.
Highlighting the main thrust of the project exhibition, the organizer of the event, who is also the Society’s Faculty Advisor, SSU Chapter, Dr Thompson Isuagie said the essence was to motivate the upcoming scientists to pay more attention to practical rather than theoretical aspects of science.
Dr Isuagie further called on the young scientists to utilize the opportunity availed to them by the Society.
He lamented that only eight contestants participated in the event, despite the widest publicity given to the competition.
