Uyo, Nigeria – Across the globe, science, and technology drive solutions to pressing social challenges. However, many students in Nigeria’s underserved communities where curiosity struggles to take root remain on the side-lines of this progress. Their ideas, full of potential, rarely find the space to grow and make positive change.
In response, Vcare for Development Foundation (VCDF), in partnership with the Akwa Ibom State Ministry of Education and the State Secondary Education Board (SSEB) commenced the Igniting Minds through Science (IMS) programme in Akwa Ibom State in 2024. The programme leverages support from Sterling Oil Exploration and Energy Production Company Limited (SEEPCO) to provide a platform for students to innovate practical, home-grown, and science-enabled solutions to local and global challenges. VCDF hosted the grand finale of the 2025 edition of the programme for Akwa Ibom State on November 22, 2025, at Onna LGA Council Hall.
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Leading up to the grand finale of the exhibition, VCDF held an orientation in June 2025 for science teachers and principals from 47 public secondary schools across seven local government areas: Eket, Esit Eket, Eastern Obolo, Ibeno, Ikot Abasi, Mkpat Enin, and Onna. The teachers extended the training to their students, reaching approximately 2900 science learners. 41 schools submitted proposals, with 37 receiving funds for project development. 10 schools qualified for the finale through the cluster exhibitions conducted across the seven local government areas.
Mr. Akpan, a teacher said “With VCDF’s guidance, teachers’ and students’ ideas did not remain sketches on paper, it helped us shape our ideas into workable projects’’.
Mr. Udeme Udofia, Director of Field Services, Akwa Ibom State Secondary Education Board, speaking on behalf of the board’s permanent secretary said ‘‘the effort to bring students forward and expose them to the practical side of science is widely valued.’’
Significant and laudable projects that received recognition as first, second and third prize winners were – pavement materials reinforced with waste plastic by Afang Inang Secondary School in Onna LGA; a biofuel fuel/stove designed by Excellence College in Mkpat Enin LGA, and polymer flakes produced from discarded water sachets by Eket Modern High School in Esit Eket LGA.
Reflecting on the experience, Ekemini-Abasi Idorenyin Michael, a student from Community Secondary Commercial School, Iffe Town, Mkpat Enin LGA, said: “What I learned is that younger children can invent things. Previously, I thought we needed to graduate first and be grown up.”
The IMS programme aligns with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 4 on quality education, Goal 9 on industry, innovation and infrastructure, and Goal 11 on sustainable cities and communities. VCDF will continue leveraging SEEPCO’s support to contribute to sustainable development in Nigeria even at the grassroots.
