Aloysius Attah, Onitsha

The Metropolitan Catholic Bishop of Onitsha Archdiocese, Most Rev. Valerian Maduka Okeke, has sent his hearty congratulations to the students of the Catholic Archdiocesan-owned Regina Pacis College, Onitsha, who emerged the overall World Champions, Junior Category, in the World Tech-novation Challenge competition held in San Fransisco, USA.

The elated Archbishop, in a statement, described the feat as ‘an honour’ to Nigeria, Anambra State and the Archdiocese of Onitsha, in particular.

While congratulating the students and their teachers, the Archbishop reiterated that well formed youths are the best legacy and heritage any society will bequeath to the world.

He maintained that no sacrifice is too much in educating the children noting that it takes a human capital to create other capitals and in turn transform the world.

He commended the Anambra State Government for the partnership with the Church and the civil society in the education of children and challenged the Federal Government to look in the same direction because noting that in the end, the students are assets for the entire society.

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“It is my delight to say hearty congratulation to our daughters/ students and teachers of Regina Pacis Secondary School, Onitsha. They won the World Technovation Challenge Competition in the USA .

“Having earlier won at the National level, they proceeded to the International level which brought together students from different parts of the world.

“These wonderful daughters of our land have really made us proud. They are now world champions and are now attracting a worldwide attention in the world’s greatest technological hub.

“They swept over 2,000 competing applications to get to the finals in San Francisco, USA. They won the Challenge with a mobile application called the FD-Detector which they developed to help tackle the Challenge of fake pharmaceutical products in Nigeria and beyond.

“They also applied the robotics and coding insights in solving existential problem of fake drugs. I believe that this is a sign of many good things to come if we jointly join hands in teaching our children in a sound and conducive environment, where honesty, integrity and formation of good character is the watch word.

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“No sacrifice is too much in educating our Children because they are the future of tomorrow” he said.

It would be recalled that the students Promise Nnalue,  Jessica Osita, Nwabuaku Ossai,  Adaeze Onuigbo and   Vivian Okoye mentored  by Mrs. Uchenna Onwuamaegbu-Ugwu with  the name ‘Team Save A Soul’   won the challenge with a mobile application called the FD-Detector which they developed to help tackle the challenge of fake pharmaceutical products in Nigeria and beyond.

They also applied the robotics and coding insights in solving existential problem of fake drugs.

This Competition aims at engaging the girl-student in solving existential problems with technology. Technovation is a programme that offers girls around the world the opportunity to learn the programming skills they need to become seasoned tech-entrepreneurs and leaders.

115 countries participated in the competition but only 12 teams from all over the world were selected as finalists for the pitch in San Francisco.

A catholic priest of the Onitsha Archdiocese presently studying in Rome, Rev . Fr. George Adimike in a reaction noted that Regina Pacis School Onitsha is one of the testimonies of the transformational pastoral leadership of the Archbishop of Onitsha, Most Rev Valerian Okeke who is the Proprietor of the School.

He said the school has undergone a massive and holistic transformation in the last 15 years of the Episcopacy of Archbishop Val Okeke.

“He rebuilt the School and totally overhauled the academics,  civics , ethics and entrepreneurial know-how of the School. He appointed extraordinary young priests to manage the School and so far the young men have not disappointed or deviated from his vision for the School.

“Starting from Fr Dr Francis Unegbu who laid the foundation for the transformation the School has undergone as the Manager and Director, to Fr Jerome Ezenwelu, it has been an incremental progress towards the realisation of the vision of the Archbishop. Based on that solid foundation, Fr Jerome Ezenwelu displayed an extraordinary acumen in delivering the goods. He deployed both managerial and inspirational skills in preparing the students for the challenge.

Continuing from his predecessor, initiated this initiative and got the best hands from the Edufun Technik piloted by the wonderful soul in the person of Uche Onwuamaegbu-Ugwu  in training the students for this great world challenge, moved through the initial competitions before handing over to Fr Vin Ezeaka who finally accompanied the Golden ‘Team Save A Soul’ to the finals.

“The victory is therefore a testimony of these extraordinary abilities to translate the vision of the Archbishop for the educational excellence of the children of the state.

The young students who proudly raised the Nigerian flag in the USA have really brought honour to fatherland in a Public manifestation that the best materials are found in Nigeria. It is certainly a great image-maker for Nigeria and it is hoped that the Federal Government will reciprocate the patriotism of our young girls and honour them” he said.