SystemSpecs has announced the winners of the sixth edition of its Children’s Day Essay Competition (CDEC), spotlighting the innovation and brilliance of young Nigerian students. The announcement was made during a virtual event held on Tuesday, May 27, 2025.
Adeomi Adesewa Penelope of Abesan Comprehensive Junior College, Lagos, and Okeke Chukwudumebi Daniel of Loyola Jesuit College, Abuja, emerged as the first-place winners in the junior and senior categories, respectively.
Each winner will receive a N1,000,000 cash prize, a brand-new laptop, a one-year internet subscription, and other exciting gift items, which will be formally presented at the CDEC Award Ceremony scheduled for June 2025.
This year’s competition, themed “How I Will Use Technology to Mobilise My Peers for a Greater Nigeria,” recorded a 33% increase in submissions compared to the previous year’s 24%, with over 4,700 entries received from children aged 9 to 16 across both public and private schools in all six geopolitical zones. The essays showcased bold, imaginative thinking and a strong desire to drive national progress through technology.
In the junior category, Agboola Caleb of Baylen Homeschools, Ogun State, and Yusuf Ridwanullahi Adeleke of Immaculate Heart Senior Comprehensive High School, Lagos State, took second and third place, receiving N750,000 and N500,000 respectively, alongside laptops, one-year data subscriptions, and other gift items. In the senior category, Mbadugha Chisom Ifechi Chukwu of Our Lady of Apostles Secondary School, Lagos, and Ifewemeh-Ojo Hadassah Ohihioemehen of Kembos College, Lagos, won second and third place with the same reward packages.
Loyola Jesuit College, Abuja, and Abesan Comprehensive Junior College, Lagos, were named Winning Schools in the senior and junior categories, respectively. Winning Schools are selected based on the number of top-ten essays submitted by students from the same institution. Each will receive ten brand-new laptops in recognition of their role in fostering academic excellence and promoting technology education.
Lagos State also emerged as the Winning State, having produced the highest number of public school entries within the top 100 submissions—a testament to the growing impact of public education in nurturing digital literacy and civic engagement among youth.
“For six years now, we have stayed true to one goal: to hear and celebrate the voices of Nigerian children using technology for good,” said Mrs. Bukola Adeboye, Executive Director, Corporate Services at SystemSpecs. “The CDEC is more than a contest; it is a catalyst for transformation—nurturing the dreams, confidence, and critical thinking skills that our nation urgently needs.”
“We are not only proud of the ideas shared by these future leaders; we are deeply inspired by them,” added ‘DeRemi Atanda, Managing Director of Remita Payment Services Limited (RPSL), a subsidiary of the SystemSpecs Group. “CDEC reinforces our belief that young people must be central to Nigeria’s innovation story.”
