Team Paci of Regina Pacis Secondary School, Onitsha in Anambra State has emerged the winner of the 2025 National Pitch Diamond Challenge for High School Entrepreneurs.
This was announced on Thursday, March 6, 2025 at the end of the National Pitch Competition for selected secondary schools held in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.
The event was organised by the House of Diamond Challenge Initiative in collaboration with the University of Delaware in United States of America.
The winner (Team Paci) which innovated an electronic walking aid for the blind went home with $250 USD courtesy of University of Delaware.
The second position was won by the BizApp from Myrtle Vine College, Onitsha, Anambra, they created a web app linking mentors and apprentices for skills acquisition, business incubation and mentorship ecosystem.
The third position was won by Team Hydropetro Dynamics from Beulah Secondary School, Akwa Ibom for developing an alternative device to solve energy problems.
The second and third positions went home with N100, 000 and N50, 000 respectively, courtesy of the House of Diamond Challenge Initiative.
Addressing the participants virtually, the Keynote speaker, Miss Jia Rastogi, who spoke on the theme, “From passion to profit,” charged prospective entrepreneurs to back their passion or ideas with actions to achieve a desired result.
Rastogi, who is a 16 year old Australian High School student and entrepreneur warned them against procrastination or distractions, saying that such “are killers of dream.” She urged the. to always take a bold step to interpret their passion.
“Success is not just about waiting for the right time, but creating that right moment. Passion is very important and without action, it is just a mere idea,” Rastogi said.
She also encouraged them to reach out to mentors in chosen field to learn more from them and to come up with innovative solutions to problems.
In his remarks, the Commissioner for Education, Akwa Ibom, Prof Ubong Umoh, described entrepreneurship as the bedrock of economic advancement while innovation is the catalyst for development.
He said the state government believes in the transformative power of education to unlock opportunities and drive economic progress.
He said government has provided an enabling environment for entrepreneurship to thrive in line with the ARISE Agenda of Gov. Umo Eno’s administration.
Earlier in her remarks the representative of the House of Diamond Challenge Initiative, Mrs Lucy Ekpenyong, said education has gone beyond passing of examinations or coming out with good grades.
Ekpenyong said education is incorporating and harnessing entrepreneurial skills.
She added that it prepares one to be productive wherever such person finds himself.
Ekpenyong noted that with the entrepreneurial mindset, the teething problem of unemployment in Nigeria would be drastically reduced as students and graduates can create their own jobs.
The first place winner will represent Nigeria at the Diamond Challenge Limitless World Summit in Delaware USA in May 2025 to compete along side other semifinalist teams from and over 25 countries for the finals.
