A member of National Youth Service Corps(NYSC) on Friday, organised an exhibition for technically gifted children in Abia.
The Young Creative Innovative Minds Technical Exhibition, 2023, which held in Umuahia, had contestants drawn from various secondary schools across the state.
The exhibition with the theme: “Identifying Gifted Children in Abia State,” was a Personal Community Development Project of Mr Godsplan Promise, a corps member with a registration number: AB/22C/1879.
In a remark, the Commissioner for Science and Technology, Mr Oriaka Chima, urged technically gifted children to be resilient, but not to accept defeat in bringing their dreams to fruition.
Oriaku, who was visibly impressed by the children’s display, urged them not to be discouraged by the challenges they might encounter while pursuing their goals, rather “see failure as part of science.”
He reminded them that the inventor of an electric bulb, Thomas Edison, failed many times before he succeeded.
The commissioner, while urging them to start pursing their dreams early, said that the state government was ready to give maximum support to any individual who showcased himself or herself in the science and technology innovation path.
“One of the important things in Gov. Alex Otti’s mandate is to make Abia a smart city and smart ‘Abians.’
“In fact, by the time he will be done in his first tenure, you will discover that Abia will be the hub of technology and the people we are targeting are these young minds,” he said.
The NYSC State Coordinator, Mrs Ufuoma Dick-Iruenabere, who was represented by Mrs Chidinma Osuagwu, commended the corps member as well as the contestants for the breathtaking exhibition.
According to her, these days, our youths are being swept away by the trends, but these young minds have translated their ideas into something tangible.
The Rivers State-born Promise attached to the state’s Ministry of Science and Technology, said that he was inspired by the abundance of talents he saw among the young minds in the state.
He said that he decided to create a platform where the children could be seen, encouraged and be sponsored.
“It is also a pointer to every Nigerian and every organisation to see how we can look inwards to develop ourselves.
“I thank God for the success of this maiden edition and my plan is to make it a national competition so that many children can have the opportunity to showcase their talents,” he said.
Interestingly, the children showcased their talents during their presentations with their dummies on vehicles, fuel-less generating set, power bank, gas-less cooker, circulatory system, building designs and others.
In an interview, Master Chidiebube Azuma of Government Technical College, Osusu, Aba, who won the first position for his work on pay loader vehicle, said that the competition had spurred him to follow his dream. (NAN)
