#NCOY2016 THE GAME CHANGER IS A DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH!!
On Thursday 6th October, 2016, five JA Student Companies representing each region across the country assembled in Lagos “the center for excellence” to compete for the title of the 2016 Junior Achievement National Company of the Year Award.
Representing the South East region was Golden Sceptre Company of Graceland College, Enugu. The North Central, duely represented by the The Explorers Company of Government Secondary School, Tundun Wada, Jos and New Era Company of Asokoro Community Staff School, Abuja. The Explorers Company won the award for Best CSR Project and 4th Place Winner while the New Era Company came 3rd Place Winner.
Emerging 2nd Place Winner was the all-girl group of executives representing the South South, the Excellent Achievers Company of Methodist Girls Secondary School, Port-Harcourt. The Innovative Minds of Caro Favoured College Ajegunle, Lagos, represented the South West, shone as 1st Place Winners earning the award of the 2016 JA National Company of the Year.
The Victory of the Innovative Minds remains outstanding with reference to what they thought of themselves when they first entered the competition. They came to the Regional Competition where they eventually won feeling like the underdogs. And now they are our National Champions. Also they have caused a shift in JAN’s NCOY history, making this the first time the National Company of the Year Award goes to the South West region.
#NCOY2016 showcased ingenuity in areas of technology and the use of recycled products, as we witnessed a rise in young women and men exploring areas of technology. Team Innovative Minds (Innoms) hailing from Caro Favoured College, Ajegunle. The members of Innovative Minds produced Neon advertising lights as their main product and black shoe polish, arts/crafts as their mini-products. The black shoe polish was sold to their fellow students, teachers and members of the community. They chose this product because everyone in their school wears black shoes and they believed their school could benefit from it. The revenue generated form their mini-products was used to produce the user friendly NEON Light which was sold to businesses within their community to support their advertising needs. Over the course of the school year they upgraded their product and created a version that was eco-friendly and did not require a power source. They also provided hands-on after sales service to patrons of their product.
Their passion, sales pitch, accounting and community service project was undeniable to the judges and crowd present and they were declared the winner of the 2016 National Company of the Year Competition. The Innovative Minds will proceed to Zimbabwe this December to compete against their fellow JA Africa Member nations for the title of JA Africa Company of the Year. The Innovative Minds attribute a great deal of their success in achieving their vision to their mentor Mr. Klechukwu Igwe, an Engineer who enlisted as volunteer to the students for the duration of their program.
The judges for this year’s competition were JAN Ambassador and Alumnus of JA Company Program, Mr. Tunji Eleso, Co-Founder, Co-Creation Hub; Mr. Audu Maikori, Founder/President, Chocolate City; Mrs. Bukky Karibi-Whyte CEO/Founder The Bobby Taylor Company & Invicta Communications Limited and Mrs. Lola Oyeka, Country Public Affairs Officer, Nigeria & Ghana, CitiBank. The keynote address was delivered by JA Africa CEO/President, Mrs. Elizabeth Bintliff., who encouraged the students to push through with their visions despite the obstacles we face in Africa as they hold the key to successfully rebuilding our nations’ economies.  

JA Africa CEO Mrs. Elizabeth Bintliff and the Winners of the 2016 National Company of the Year Competition #NCOY2016 Team Innovative Minds from Caro Favored College, Agejunle who will proceed to compete for the title of JA Africa Company of the Year in Zimbabwe this December. (L-R Diko Bright – President, Athanesius Virginia – Managing Director ,Ifediora Chiamaka – VP Finance  & Ogechi Amadi – VP Human Resources. 

JA Africa CEO Mrs. Elizabeth Bintliff and JAN Chairman Mr. Niyi Yusuf, MD Accenture Nigeria with the Winners of the 2016 National Company of the Year Competition #NCOY2016 Team Innovative Minds from Caro Favored College, Agejunle who will proceed to compete for the title of JA Africa Company of the Year in Zimbabwe this December. 

Executives of Innovative Minds showcasing the NEON Light at their product display booth.

Article and Photos by: Petra Erhiyoma, JAN

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