Ugwuanyi, Enugu’s STEM education and blossoming of tech prodigies

As part of its operational strategy, the Enugu State ministry of education organizes an educational fair on a regular basis to discover students who are deserving of state scholarship. Such fairs have invariably become innovative platforms where young, talented people showcase what they have produced.

But the turnout at a recent fair held in July, and indeed the products displayed, blew the minds of the organizers and left them literally spoilt for choice. It was a remarkable sight as students from across the state swarmed the fair’s Michael Okpara Square venue in Enugu, each clutching a product they had conceived and manufactured, accompanied by their parents or guardians.

Uche Levis Abonyi, executive secretary of the Enugu State Scholarship and Loans Board, ascribed this intense outburst of innovation among the youths to the enabling environment Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, who he described as “tech-friendly,” has put in place.

These measures include the construction of additional workshops, laboratories in technical, vocational and regular schools, and recruitment of more science teachers commensurate to the number of students in the sciences. But the highlight is often the award of scholarships to students. It’s actually not hard to see why. A number of the selected students are from rural-based schools, where the dream of a university education is more likely to be frustrated by parents’ economic status compared to the experience in cities.

An example is Emmanuel Maduabuchi Chukwu, a 16-year-old student of Government Technical College, Nsukka, who designed a miniature fighter jet and helicopter that are both controlled remotely. The feat earned him a state scholarship and one million naira donation from the governor who urged him to deploy the funds towards improving his works. The advise uncannily mirrored Maduabuchi’s tortuous journey in the quest for design perfection. “When people criticize our product, we shouldn’t feel bad about it; we should work harder to make it perfect,” he said, in reference to unflattering comments he faced initially when his product framework consisted largely of cardboard, before he began using plastic and metal sheets.

He is confident the cash reward will enhance his craft, both aesthetically and technologically. “I never expected it,” he said of the scholarship and cash gift. “I was just walking around the streets with my plane not knowing this is where it would take me.”

His mother, Mrs Grace Chukwu, was just as excited. “I’m the happiest mother on earth today,” said Mrs Chukwu, who accompanied her son to the Government House. “Maduabuchi has made us proud and we’re all grateful to the governor for recognizing his talent through the scholarship and financial assistance. God will bless him,” she added.

But there is the possibility that she might have occasionally vented her anger over her son’s excessive commitment to his passion at the expense of his other obligations, like most parents would normally do. Such conflict is often the source of many childhood dreams. For Maduabuchi, the solution lies in how the child is able to demonstrate wisdom. “Your mother might be angry that you haven’t carried out your daily household chores. What I advise is that children should obey their mothers. After you have done everything you’re supposed to do, you can then go ahead with your passion. It’s important to apply wisdom in all we do,” he said.

The scholarship will also be extended to two outstanding students selected from among the initial 20 discovered at the education fair. They would both be traveling to the University of Petersburg in Russia, where they will further hone their skill and contribute to Enugu’s technological advancement on graduation.

Reward for excellence, which is essentially what the scholarship awards typify, has always been a hallmark of the Governor Ugwuanyi administration. In 2017, for instance, the Enugu State Government offered a scholarship to a student of Shalom Academy, Nsukka, Miss Cynthia Chinecherem Ali, who scored distinctions in all the nine subjects she sat for in the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) exam. The scholarship covered every cost during her first degree in any Nigerian university.

Also, in 2017, the Governor Ugwuanyi administration granted scholarships to 340 students of the Enugu State Polytechnic, Iwollo, and similar scholarships to 340 students of Institute of Management and Technology (IMT), in a bid to promote learning and encourage students from disadvantaged homes.

A gratifying point about the Enugu State scholarship programme, which sponsors beneficiaries’ education through the university, is the fact it is not limited to Enugu State indigenes. “Any student who was born in Enugu State and schools in the state is eligible,” Abonyi said.

This inclusive scholarship policy is consistent with Governor Ugwuanyi’s pan-Nigerian vision, and has benefited several non-indigenes like Anambra State-born Udoye Chukwuebuka. The student of Government Technical College, Enugu, was chosen for his design of an mp3 radio. Built from mostly scrap items and encased in wood, the radio receives fm signal and can connect to Bluetooth. In addition to the scholarship award, he also received the sum of five hundred naira.

For the governor, the creativity displayed by the students is a vindication of his administration’s investments in technical education. It is by no means self-adulatory.

No one would know this better than Dr. G. O. C. Ajah, Executive Chairman, Science, Technical and Vocational School Management Board. “The governor has always supported technical education, and he has demonstrated it in practical term even beyond our imagination. Our students have made us proud as well. They have truly justified the governor’s investment in technical education,” he said, proudly cradling the radio manufactured by one of his students.

Earlier in March, this support for technical education received a national acclaim when Ituchukwu Godswill Edeani, a 15-year-old student of Enugu State, emerged the winner of this year’s “774 Young Nigerian Scientists Presidential Award”.

But the motivation to enhance science and technical education is not driven by the public acclaim generated by the sterling performance of students, as by the knowledge of what a technology boom can do to Enugu State’s economy. This quest to tap the economic potential inherent in technology underlined Governor Ugwuanyi’s inauguration of the Enugu State Tech Hub and Youth Innovation Centre, in March this year.

The centre is projected to create thousands of direct jobs in three years and contribute no less than a two-digit percent positive increase to the state’s gross domestic product.

It is possible that the governor might have left office when those economic indices become evident. However, it would be proof yet that economic growth is not attained fortuitously. Their seeds are deliberately sown and painstakingly nurtured. In the narcissistic world of politics inured to the fleeting accolades that the immediacy of concrete projects lends, such long-term project is often not a popular route to walk.

But it is credit to Governor Ugwuanyi that he has shown as much commitment to growing the intellectual capacity of the youth, as he has to overhauling the state’s infrastructure. It is the reason for the flurry of technological talents being unleashed in Enugu, and why the state looks set to become a competitive innovation hub that will birth tech startups of the future.

Ani is a senior communications aide to the governor of Enugu state.