By Sodeinde Temidayo David
Top financial institution, Union Bank Nigeria Plc, has asked students in the country to participate in its 2021 Next Robotics Legend Programme.
The Next Robotic Legend is part of the bank’s initiatives under its Edu360 platform in collaboration with Awarri limited, a Pan-African technology company, to infuse Robotics and Artificial Intelligence (AI) into the education of young Nigerian students.
In this year’s edition of the robotics competition, according to Union Bank, it started receiving entries for the contest from August 9 via its website. It stated that applications would close on August 23.
From the pool of entries, the organisers will pick 40 children to learn 3D printing in addition to AI and Robotics via a robust learning experience at on-site locations in Lagos, Ibadan and Yola and virtual training too.
As part of the package, each child will receive a tablet, a Mekamon (an Awarri robot) and access to specialised online resources.
The competition is open to students aged 11 to 16 and will focus on identifying and nurturing young potential inventors and creators and offering them the opportunity to proffer solutions to community challenges using skills learnt.
Children or wards who wants to partake in the competition are expected to record a 60-second video of themselves, explaining why they should be accepted into the programme, and fill the accompanying consent form.
Also, interested personnel can forfeit their chances on signing-in if their entry video is posted on an invalid forum. According to Union Bank, videos should be uploaded to http://unionbankng.com/AWARRI-2.
At the end of the free training programme, the students will be required to identify a need in their community, and apply the skills learnt to proffer a solution.
The student with the best solution will be admitted for a mentorship program with the founder of Awarri, Mr Silas Adekunle, who is a top international robotics engineer renowned for creating the world’s first intelligent gaming robot.
The event is aimed at enhancing digital learning and building the capacity of young Nigerian startups and inventors in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Robotics as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility.
Just like last year’s edition, also in this edition, schools are not left out.
To ensure the sustenance of the initiative, Edu360 has partnered with four secondary schools by providing robotics toolkits and training for their teachers to enable them to include robotics in their curriculum.
Dipo Olowookere 
Modupe Gbadeyanka 
Aduragbemi Omiyale