Dangote, Zenith Bank sponsor students

Two-time national champions, Grays International Secondary School Kaduna will today [Monday July 31, 2006] leave for Shanghai, China, to represent Nigeria at the “Students for the Advancement of Global Entrepreneurship [SAGE]” Competition, courtesy of three Nigerian companies- Globacom, Dangote Group and Zenith International Bank Plc. The school was declared winner at the end of the competition held at the Women Centre, Abuja, on June 3, 2006 to select Nigeria’s flag-bearer to the Global Competition scheduled to hold in Shanghai, China, on August 3-6 2006. The June 3 event was the 4th National Championship held in Nigeria. The Competition was organized to provide Nigerian Youths with the opportunity of gaining confidence in entrepreneurial skills and the rudiments of small scale business. Ten secondary school teams from across Nigeria converged in Abuja last June for the 4th National Championship of ‘Students for the Advancement of Global Entrepreneurship (SAGE) ’competition. SAGE is a direct response to the challenges of the Millennium Declaration and is in its 4th year of a 25 year global mission to eradicate poverty. The contest which started from the beginning of the school year in September/October 2005 climaxed in a one-day tournament between participating Nigerian secondary schools. After the very impressive presentations by the SAGE teams, Grays International College Kaduna emerged tops with 624 points, and carted away the trophy and N 150,000 prize money donated by SMEDAN. They were closely followed by Zamani College, Kaduna with 601 points and Queen Amina College also from Kaduna with 546 points. Speaking at the occasion, the Director-General of SMEDAN, Mrs. Modupe Adelaja who is on Global Advisory Board of SAGE, explained the agency’s deep partnership interest in the activities of SAGE Nigeria. “The agency was established by the Federal Government of Nigeria to promote the emergence of a structured and efficient MSME sector that will enhance sustainable economic development of Nigeria. In doing this, we believe there should be no discrimination about our targets- whether they are students, youth, women, and public servants, the physically challenged or even pensioners” she said.