Nigeria will in 2010 be the first African country to host more than 80 countries to an International Junior Science Olympiad (IJSO), Professor Peter Okebukola, the Chairman of the Local Organising Committee, said in Abuja on Tuesday.
Okebukola said the Olympiad would cost about $26.6 million and about 4,800 young scientists from all over the world would participate in the competition.
“In 2010, the competition would come to the African continent for the first time and be hosted by Nigeria.
“Since more than 80 countries would have joined IJSO, we expect that by 2010, about 4,800 young scientists from all over the world would be our guests in Abuja for the event,” he said.
The countries expected to participate include Russia, China, Taiwan, Korea, Ghana, South Africa and Malaysia.
Okebukola said that the Olympiad is a competition to showcase intellectual talents and to promote social and cultural linkages among people of the world.
“The science Olympiad is an intellectual Olympics.
“Unlike the Olympic games where participants compete in such events as 100 meters, soccer, swimming and boxing, in a science Olympiad, participants compete for medals in intellectual tasks in science,” he added.
Okebukola said that the competition would help in the identification of exceptional talents in science that could be nurtured to be future noble prize winners and top rate scientists that could help drive the nation’s economy.
He said that it would also lead to an improvement in the quality of mathematics and science education, reignite students’ enthusiasm in science subjects and foster their creativity, problem solving and critical thinking skills.
The other benefits, he said include promotion of tourism and Nigeria’s international image.
Okebukola, the immediate past Executive Secretary of the Nigerian National Universities Commission (NUC), said Nigeria had recorded a great deal of success since the inception of the competition in 2005. “A student of Bells Secondary School won the only medal for Nigeria in 2008.
“In the 2009 IJSO, which ended last week in Baku, Azerbaijan, Nigeria emerged the best country in Africa with four bronze medals and led several countries in Europe on the league table,’’ he said.
“We are poised in 2010 to beat Russia and Taiwan that emerged the overall winners this year,” he added.
Source African Press Agency
