NEWS
Nigeria SIFE Teams Present their Entrepreneurship Projectshttp://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=48316
Hundreds of university/polytechnic students from over 18 institutions are expected to participate in this year's SIFE Nigeria Regional Competition which began on Monday in Lagos.
It will also take place in Enugu and Kaduna states between May 19 and 27, from 9.00am to 3.00pm. Two winners will emerge from each region and advance to the national competition, scheduled to hold on June 13, at the Golden Gate Restaurant, Ikoyi, Lagos.
The winner at the national competition will represent Nigeria at the 2006 SIFE World Cup in Paris, France, from September 11 to 13, where national champion teams from 44 other countries will also participate.
In the last three years, Nigeria SIFE teams from different institutions across the country have competed in Germany, Spain and Canada and had come third among 42 national champions.
The competitors at both regional and national levels are to present 24-minute multi-media summaries of the educational outreach projects that they developed and had implemented throughout the year.
SIFE Nigeria Deputy Country Director, Thompson Ayodele said, "SIFE is a veritable platform, not only for students to create economic opportunities for themselves and for others, but also a practical way to practice whatever they must have learnt in class. While carrying out their educational outreach projects, students develop communication skills, team spirit, discover their talents, and gain confidence. Above all, they are able to network with other SIFE students from other institutions both in Nigeria and abroad and top business leaders who are on hand to judge the event"
During the 2006 national competition, many CEOs and top business leaders have volunteered their time, and already signed up to judge at the competition.They include, Olayinka Olumide, Senior Partner, KPMG Professional Services; Mansur Ahmed, Director Gene-ral/CEO, Nigerian Economic Summit Group, Godwin Oteri, Managing Director Johnson Wax Nigeria Limited; Bunmi Oni, Managing Director Cadbury Nigeria Plc; Olakunle Alake, Executive Director, Dangote Group and many others. Teams will be rated on how effectively they measured, sustained and demonstrated that they created economic opportunity by helping others better understand market economics, acquire success skills, succeed in entrepreneurship, develop financial literacy skills, and practice business ethically.
The Kaduna Polytechnic was last year's SIFE Nigeria National Champion. The team went on to clinch the third position among 42 countries, at the SIFE World Cup 2005 in Toronto, Canada.
Founded in the United States in 1975 and active in more than 1, 800 university campuses in 47 countries, SIFE's focus is to create a global partnership between business and higher education that prepares university students to make a meaningful contribution toward a better world as entrepreneurs and business leaders, by challenging them to address real world business and economic issues in their communities.