A team of five University of Ibadan students has emerged winners of the second edition of the 2023 Naija Policy Hackathon organized by Policy Shapers.
Named Team Lithium, the team was declared winner of the hackathon during the final session on Sunday, August 13.
The team, which was made up of third-year Medical students, Covenant Odedele (Team Lead), John Eriomala, Emmanuel Utibe, Abraham Miracle, and a second-year colleague, Afeezah Wojuade, bested four other teams at the final stage to emerge champions with their Policy Solution titled “The Nigerian Student Loan Program: Recommendations for Feasible Implementation of This Act”. They had initially qualified as finalists from a pool of over 50 teams, and 420 participants, from across the country.
The Naija Policy Hackathon, a 48-Hour Policy hack, is a competition aimed at providing opportunity for young people with varying interests in societal developmental issues to think, ideate and develop pragmatic policy recommendations that respond to development issues in Nigeria and aid national development.
For this edition, participants were made to come up with policy solutions in 5 areas: The Nigeria Student Loan Program ,The Climate Change Act, Tech, AI & the Nigeria Startup Act , Agricultur & Food Security, and Taxation & Internal Revenue Generation. It is an innovation of Policy Shapers, a team of Policy Enthusiasts leveraging technology to mainstream youth in public policy in Nigeria by promoting policy ideation, dialogue, and advocacy led by young people.
Speaking on their victory, Covenant described it as the product of the team’s hard work and commitment.
“I am highly elated to have worked with other brilliant minds to deliberate on a very pressing policy concern; the Nigerian Student Loan Act. It is a very important action considering the context and nuances of the Nigerian universities at the moment, and how the hike in school levies leave many at a crossroad. We are happy because this win is not just for us, but for the UI, and Nigerian University students,” he told UCJUI.
