The Wesley Girls Senior Secondary School, Yaba, Education District IV of Lagos State, will be representing Nigeria at an international competition in Sweden.
A statement by the school explained that two students of the school, Abdul-Salam Hajarah, and Korolo Elisabeth won the Nigeria Stockholm Water Prize Competition, which was held on May 18, 2023, at Sweden Embassy in Abuja.
The theme of this year’s competition is ‘Water Wise World.’
It read, “The team created a device named ‘Bithermal Water Distillation Device.’ This device can convert dirty water to distilled and drinkable water using solar energy directly from the sun with the aid of Fresnel Lens. The device also has a DC element connected to the battery and to a solar panel, this setup also generates heat energy that boils the water molecule inside the Distillation Box.”
The principal, Mrs Adeola Bankole, narrated that the pupils’ choice of project was initiated by their place of habitation, Makoko, where they had no drinkable water.
She said, “First the achievement was the doing of God. We started a month ago just by putting heads together to showcase what the students have in mind. They live in Makoko where there is no drinkable water. This triggered the innovation of the students and their teacher, Mr Abiola Oyewale, ran with the project to encourage the students.”
“We believe strongly that come August, by God’s grace, we will come back with the first position worldwide.”
The students led by their teacher, Mr Abioye Oyewale, competed against 60 contestants at the preliminary round which narrowed down to seven teams including three from Lagos in the National Championship, where the girls emerged winners.
The statement added that “The team is making all necessary preparation for the International Championship where countries like the U.S., and Germany will also contest.
“Over 20 countries normally contest worldwide for a prize of $150,000 every year.”
