The trio of Oyewale Abdulsobur, a 400 Level Student of Computer Science, at the Federal University of Technology Akure (FUTA) , Esekhile Miracle, a student from the University of Benin, and Isah Abdulazeez a student from Nassarawa State University, have won the First Position Prize in Cloud Computing at 2024 edition of the Huawei ICT Global Competition in China.
They competed alongside 170,000 students from over 2,000 colleges and universities across over 80 countries and regions of the World from the preliminary stages before earning the right to compete in the Finals in China. In the Cloud Track Segment of the International Competition, the three competitors from Nigeria were good enough to best the efforts of their Chinese hosts and their counterparts from Europe and other Continents of the World.
The Global Final from where they picked the coveted first position on May 23,2024 involved taking an 8-hour lab exam as a team. The 3 Man Team worked on real-life scenario lab exams. According to Oyewale Abdulsobur , “The Global final lab exam involves solving a real life scenarios problems that requires a Cloud computing, Big data, and Artificial intelligence skill implementations.”
The road to China for the Trio started with the Preliminary Stage and then the National Final which held remotely on December 4, 2023.
The Preliminary Stage involves taking a 60-minute online exam, which serves as a requirement to qualify for the National Final.
The National Final involves taking a 90-minute online exam, from which the top 5 students in the country were selected.
The Regional Final involves taking a 1-hour online exam and a 4-hour lab exam in a team of three in Abuja from where Abdulsabor , Miracle, and Isah got the Ticket for China for winning the grand prize, the highest prize achievable at that stage, and qualified for the Global Final, which was held in China.
According to the Organisers of the Competition, “The Huawei ICT Competition is intended for students in Huawei ICT academies and those in higher education institutions that are willing to join the ICT Academy worldwide. Through this competition, Huawei aims to provide students with a platform to compete healthily and exchange ideas, thus enhancing their ICT knowledge and practical skills as well as increasing their ability to innovate by using new technologies and platforms.”
Oyewale Abdulsobur says he has gained a lot from participation in the competition. “Huawei intends to equip student’s with the skills needed to thrive in the 21st century. My participation in the competition has opened me to skills I wouldn’t have gotten for free. Looking forward, I intend to extend the reach of this competition to my fellow FUTA students,” Abdulsobur said.
The Vice Chancellor, Professor Adenike Oladiji, while reacting to the development described Oyewale Abdulsobur as a worthy FUTARIAN and the Trio as worthy ambassadors of Nigeria.
” This is another affirmation of the strength of the Nigerian Youth and the huge potential they have to contribute to the development of Nigeria.
The Trio have done their universities and Nigeria proud. I congratulate them and wish them more wins in their future endeavors,” the Vice Chancellor stated