The American University of Nigeria (AUN) was among the 2022 Huawei National ICT competition winners. At the award presentation ceremony in Abuja on December 19, the AUN representative and Huawei AUN Academy instructor, Mr. Somtochukwu David Dan-Okereke, won an award in the Huawei Student category as Best Ambassador (Huawei ICT Competition for Sub-Saharan Africa, 2022-2023).
Mr. Somtochukwu David was one of the four student instructors chosen in their category across the country alongside the ten best Huawei Instructors, five best Huawei ICT Academies, and five best supporting Vice Chancellors from the University of Port Harcourt, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi, University of Jos, Federal University of Technology, Minna and Igbinedion University Okada.
The Huawei ICT Competition National Finals, which commenced on December 1, 2022, had 400 participating students from over 50 universities across Nigeria competing for the national award.
At the award ceremony attended by the Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Ali Patami, a representative of the National Universities Commission (NUC), Vice Chancellors of several universities, and leaders in the Nation's ICT sector, the Managing Director of Huawei Technologies Company Nigeria Limited, Mr. Michael Zhuang expressed joy that through the Huawei National ICT competition, "Nigerian students now have the opportunity to learn more and do more in both their academic career and ICT industry-relevant knowledge," adding that the company's partnership with the Nigerian Government will allow students to achieve both academic and industry certification at the same time, thereby creating a pool of skilled Nigerians in ICT to build and manage the nation’s digital economy.
Mr. Somtochukwu David, a 3rd-year Software Engineering student, dedicated his award to fellow students, the Huawei Academy faculty adviser Dr. ASH, and all enrollees in the Huawei certified ICT Associate (HCIA) cloud computing course.
The faculty advisor to the AUN Huawei Academy and Dean of the School of Engineering, Dr. Abubakar Sadiq Hussaini, congratulated Mr. Somotochukwu David for winning the award and bringing honor and recognition to AUN.
"This is a moment of joy and professional accomplishment for our student representative and the AUN family. It is a reward for hard work, diligence, and focus. It was a very competitive selection process but I was confident our student representative will win in his category. Our objective is to grow the AUN Huawei Academy to meet and exceed the level you find in the other universities which started their academy before AUN. This award is a watershed and will surely motivate more students, faculty and staff at AUN to take an interest in acquiring cloud computing certification”.
Launched in 2017, the Huawei ICT Competition has become one of Huawei's most influential competitions. The Huawei ICT Competition is open to students in Huawei ICT academies and higher education institutions who wish to join the ICT Academy globally. The Huawei Competition provides a platform for students to compete and healthily exchange ideas, sharpening and enhancing their ICT knowledge and practical skills and increasing their ability to innovate through new technologies and platforms.
As a result of the memorandum of understanding signed between the Ministry of Communication and Digital Economy and Huawei to train 30,000 Nigerian youths across the country by 2023, over 8,300 Nigerian students have benefited from skill acquisition training. Huawei has trained over 1,000 Nigerian students currently employed and has passed Huawei Professional Certification exams.
Huawei is a leading global provider of information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure and smart devices in Nigeria.