Mr Olajide Ajayi, National Coordinator, First LEGO League robotics championship says the competition is designed to inspire and discover young science and technology innovators across the country.
Ajayi said it was important for the country to focus on science and technology in order to innovatively solve the nation’s problems.
He said the robotics challenge which was
put together by the Federal Ministry of Education in collaboration with Coderina Education and Technology Foundation was a step in unveiling creative thinkers.
“This creative program is meant to inspire the young generation of people coming behind us to take technology and science very seriously”
“For any economy to be productive, you have to have creative thinkers, innovative thinkers, you have to have critical thinkers.
“As you know there will always be problems around, so you need to proffer solutions and find a way of solving our problems as a nation.
“That is why we want to catch these young talents early and develop them into critical thinkers and problem solvers using modern trends in technology,” he said.
Ajayi explained that the FIRST LEGO League competition is focused on Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics (STEAM) skills using robotics and is open to students aged 9 to 16.
While the FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) is designed for other students (12-18 years) and emphasizes the design and development of robots.
More than 600 students participated in the national championship where they showcased their robots, inventions, and research projects to a panel of judges.
Federal Science and Technical College (FSTC) Usi-Ekiti won the 2023 edition of the competition held in Abuja, Queens College emerged second, FSTC Ilesa finished third, while GDSS Karu placed fourth.
