London, Sep 2, 2019 (AltAfrica)-Five Nigerian students from CEDEC International Secondary School, Apapa, Lagos State, Nigeria are to be honoured in London, United Kingdom on Tuesday September 3rd for educational excellence

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They will be awarded as one of the finalist teams of the British International Education Association (BIEA) 2019 International STEM Youth Innovation Competition which took place on July 3-4 in London.

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The awardees, Phebe Joshua, Jennifer Olisama, Ekene Umegakwe, Abraham Aniekwe and Prince Opara are being recognised for exceptional performance after they emerged as one the teams which most impressed the Jury by their standard of research and creativity.

Their project stood out among entries submitted by students from 34 countries. after their project emerged top from 34 other countries in an international competition

Specifically, the Nigerian teens focused their project on using drones to protect endangered African wild dog

Only an estimated 6600 Africa wild dog, including 1 400 mature specimens, still exist in the wild in countries like South Africa, Tanzania, Botswana, Chad, Benin, Central Africa Republic and Namibia. The species has already gone extinct in Cameroon, Egypt, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Mauritania, Sierra Leone, Swaziland, and Burundi.

The Nigerian kids, 3 boys and 2 girls, aged 15-17, will give a presentation of their research project using drones to fight the extinction of the Africa wild dog (also known as painted wolf) in front of representatives from BIEA, Born Free Foundation, Royal Air Force Museum and Nigerian High Commission.

In an exclusive interview with Alternativeafrica.com in London, Helen Hu, the organiser of the competition, said she was very impressed by the level of research the Nigerian and African representatives incorporated into their top level presentation which highlighted the situation of African wild dog

According to her the International STEM Youth Innovation Competition is an event for students under the age of 18, organised by the British International Education Association (BIEA).

The competition, she said was designed to raise the level of technological enthusiasm among students from all over the world as well as to stimulate students’ passion for science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

“The competition builds bridges between science, technological innovation, education, and young people across a variety of industries” Helen said

The competition held every summer with a new science and innovation theme picked every year began in 2018 and was only open to British students . 

The 2019 edition is the first international competition, with student teams from around the world taking part with specific focus to design and develop drones in bid to protect wild and endangered animals.