“Nigerians are very intelligent, hardworking, industrious, resourceful and hospitable” – DORA AKUNYILI
The above quote by our late minister for information, an inimitable woman of depth, captures our abiding nature as Nigerians. She said those words during the launch of “good people great nation” national rebranding exercise; a national campaign to reclaim our sullied image among Nations. Similar thoughts also resonated on Timi Dakolo’s mind when he dropped the line – “one day we’ll shine like the sun”.
These Nigerians just quoted could be said to be stating the obvious. There is little doubt that we Nigerians are an exceptional breed. This conviction of ours was made firmer, when on Monday, November 14th in faraway California U.S.A our very own Abuja based Oscar Ekponimo who hails from Abak LGA, was awarded alongside others as a YOUNG LAUREATE by ROLEX. The event took place at the Dolby theatre in Los Angeles – a venue noted for epochal events, with notable celebrities in attendance.
This was truly epochal because it marked the 40th anniversary of the Rolex Enterprise Awards. The awards came to being in 1976 to mark the 50th anniversary of the Rolex Oyster Chronometer, the world’s first water proof wrist watch. For decades now, Rolex has honoured extraordinary individuals who possess the courage and conviction to take on major Challenges. This award seeks to support any new or ongoing project in any corner of the globe which seeks to improve lives and touch humanity.
In 2010, the awards split focus to young people under the age of thirty (30) to help bring their innovative thinking to reality, at critical tasking stages of their careers. At Dolby theatre, Oscar Ekponimo was named as winner alongside four other young people from different continent in young laureate category of the award. Oscar Ekponimo , now belongs to a noble and exclusive group of individuals who in no small way(s) have changed or reshaped the world. Oscar Ekponimo seeks to alleviate hunger; a truly noble motive.
He has tackled this by developing a cloud based application that automates the monitoring of food products, closing in on their shelf life and notifying food vendors or retailers. This notification ultimately prompts food retailers to offer discounts on such products or donate to charity, which serves Oscar’s true intention – to alleviate hunger. This application comes with the nifty name CHOWBERRY .
This endeavour stands tall alongside effort by other young people to protect the environment, to aid communication among hearing impaired people worldwide and to expand our understanding of our planet.
We urge all Nigerians to celebrate Oscar Ekponimo for his hard work and diligence which has yielded this positive result. This award comes with a financial package to help winners further their ideas and projects. By this gesture, we are assured that Oscar’s commitment to help tackle hunger in our country and state is alive. It is worth mentioning that young one’s should find motivation in these. May this Young one’s never allow the zeal to bring their ideas to light never be diminished.
As Oscar Ekponimo travels back home with his award, our faith in our citizen’s capacities to explore, innovate and make our state and Nation great is renewed. KUDOS OSCAR.
KEEP THE FLAG FLYING
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