Highlights from the 2017 Enactus Nigeria National Competition

• August 4, 2017
• By: Tona Rowett

‘Building a leadership pipeline’ was the theme of this year’s Enactus Nigeria National Competition, which brought together 720 student, academic and business supporters at the Civic Center in Lagos on 4 – 6 July. The first day was dedicated to the opening round of competition, which saw 18 teams present their innovative outreach initiatives in hopes of being named this year’s national champion. During the first round, 29 business executives served as judges across the four leagues to determine the semi-finalist teams using the Enactus standard judging criteria.

If you followed the event on social media, you would have been inspired to see the messages of support and collaboration throughout the day, a clear reminder that for Enactus students, the competition itself is secondary to the impact made in communities and the lives improved through their work.

Day two was a full one, and included a ‘Meet the Alumni’ forum that engaged three successful Enactus Nigeria alumni in a panel discussion, giving current students the chance to hear how the alumni have used the skills and experience gained through Enactus to help them in their careers. Some of the topics covered included conflict resolution in a team; leveraging the Enactus platform to develop your skills and position yourself for success; the importance of being actively involved in all Enactus activities; the importance of social media and how to use it appropriately and effectively; the value of adaptability and finding a good work/life balance; and how to make yourself stand out from the crowd.

There was also a Leadership Summit that focused on values-driven leadership as a tool for national growth and youth development. The panel included four impressive speakers: Olusegun Olujobi, CEO of Vertex Energy Limited and Co-founder and Chairman of the Apostles in the Market Place (AimP) Network, who highlighted the importance of values in leadership; Adetokunbo Obayan, a celebrated leadership trainer and management consultant who spoke about the need for young, values-driven and proactive leaders to drive global change; Chike Onyia, CEO of Zolts Ltd., who challenged the young leaders in the room to build emotional intelligence as a prerequisite for excellence and success; and Uwa Osa-Oboh, who discussed the need for young professionals to build a culture of professionalism and ethics.

A colorful highlight was the Cultural Fair, which showcased the diversity of culture and tradition within the Enactus Nigeria network. Students from each team were dressed in the traditional attire of their communities, sharing their unique values and traditions, such as music and dance, with the other students in attendance, allowing for meaningful exchanges and networking. The day concluded with balloting and pairing of the selected semi-finalist teams.

On the third day, the selected semi-finalist teams presented again to 21 judges across four leagues. At the end, four teams emerged from the semi-final round as finalists. it was then time for the final round of competition, with the four finalist teams taking to the main stage and sharing their impact with all attendees, including 23 final round judges. After the inspiring presentations, judges selected the team from Ahmadu Bello University as this year’s national champion. Judges were impressed with their Baggega Rising project, which addressed a number of issues in the Baggega community caused by lead contamination, a result of crude mining methods. The initiative provided community members with clean drinking water, reduced heavy metal contamination, and created new employment opportunities.

If you want more from the competition, be sure to check out Enactus Nigeria’s Twitter profile and Facebook page: thanks to the great work of their social ambassadors, all of the emotion and excitement of the event was captured for all supporters to experience!