Ernest Ndukwe

Emma Okonji

Director General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Prof Cleopas Angaye; Chairman, Open Media Communications, Dr. Ernest Ndukwe; 21st Century Technology and NTIDA have spiced up software completion in Nigeria.

They have donated trophies and cash awards that would be presented to winners of the annual software competition for the next five years. The software completion is being organised by the Institute of Software Practitioners of Nigeria (ISPON), to spur interests in software development among Nigerian students and to identify best talents that would use indigenous software to create wealth for the Nigerian economy.

The donations of the trophies and cash awards were announced at the ongoing 2012 edition of the National Software Conference and Competition in Calabar, Cross River State.

While Ndukwe dedicated his trophy to his late father and named it ‘Clement Ndukwe Most Creative Software Trophy’, the Angaye trophy was named ‘Professor Angaye Trophy for Best Open Source Software Developer’. Both announced a cash award of N250, 000 each for the winner in the next five years of the competition, starting from 2012.

To add another boost to the ISPON organised software completion, the Cross River State Governor, Senator Liyel Imoke also announced that he would host the software competition at the Tinapa Knowledge City in Calabar, for the next five years.

Commissioning the trophies, Minister of Communications Technology, Mrs. Omobola Johnson thanked the trophy donors for their support for software development in the country. She urged participants to come up with software codes that will address basic needs of Nigerians and to use the opportunity given them by ISPON to become creative software developers that would help Nigeria to achieve her digital dreams.

President of ISPON, Mr. Chris Uwaje, said the trophies would further spur contestants at the competition, and thanked the donors for their support for indigenous software development in the country.

Over 25 resource persons spoke at this year’s software competition, drawn from USA, Europe, Ghana and Nigeria.
Prof. Bill Megalos, a Professor at UCLA, led the pack of invited speakers, while top Nigerian executives, who have confirmed participation and sponsorship of the event, were all present at the event, with the them: “The Cloud and the Future of Software  in Nigeria”.