The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) has partnered with Renaissance Africa Energy Company Limited and First Exploration and Petroleum Development Company Limited to launch the Nigerian Engineering Olympiad, a new national competition designed to inspire engineering students to build innovative solutions for real societal problems. The programme is open for applications and is being championed by Enactus Nigeria, with the Nigerian Society of Engineers serving as a key partner.
Explaining the motivation behind the initiative, the Country Director of Enactus Nigeria, Michael Ajayi, said the Olympiad is designed to encourage final-year and postgraduate engineering students to imagine a self-reliant Nigeria built on knowledge, innovation, and collaboration. He explained that the organisation believes innovation starts in the minds of young engineers, adding that the Olympiad will help them connect academic ideas with industry needs. He stated that the platform creates a bridge that transforms knowledge into impact and ideas into enterprise, highlighting how creativity from classrooms can become real products and solutions.
In his remarks, the Executive Secretary of the NCDMB, Engr. Felix Omatsola Ogbe, said the theme of the programme, titled Inspiring Engineering Solutions, fits into the administration’s Nigeria First agenda. He pointed out that Nigeria’s large population offers a pool of potential talent, yet the engineering sector continues to face a critical skills gap. According to him, only a very small number of engineering graduates are considered industry-ready at the point of graduation. He stressed that this challenge has consequences such as a shortage of local professionals, dependence on foreign expatriates, and an increasing rate of brain drain.
Represented by the Director of Capacity Building, Engr. Abayomi Bamidele, Ogbe said the Olympiad supports NCDMB’s wider human capacity development programmes, which include training young Nigerians in fields such as robotics, petroleum engineering, and digital technology. He said the aim is to create an annual national platform that identifies, nurtures, and supports engineering talent while giving participants opportunities for mentorship and commercialisation. He also noted that the Board is working to strengthen leadership and entrepreneurial skills among young engineers, helping them to thrive in the workforce or build their own technology-focused ventures.
The Minister of Youth Development, Mr. Ayodele Olawande, represented by Ms. Ebiho Agun, described the creativity of Nigerian youth as one of the nation’s most important strengths in a world centred on science and problem-solving. She said the Olympiad offers young Nigerians a chance to improve their technical skills and push the boundaries of their imagination. She encouraged the students to see the competition as an opportunity for discovery, personal growth, and career development, assuring that the Ministry remains committed to supporting youth skills, creativity, and mentorship.
Also speaking, the General Manager, Integrated Gas at First E&P, Engr. Yetunde Taiwo, said the company’s involvement reflects its values of developing talent, promoting innovation, and supporting entrepreneurship. She explained that while the company has been supporting education at the secondary-school level, this Olympiad allows it to work more directly with university engineering students and expose them to real industry challenges. Taiwo expressed concern over the rising brain drain, explaining that many graduates feel forced to leave the country due to limited opportunities. She said initiatives like the Olympiad, through strong collaboration between government and industry, can create more opportunities and help retain skilled engineers.
The Executive Vice Chairman of NASENI, Mr. Khalil Suleiman Halilu, represented by Engr. Amino Hamisu, praised the Olympiad, describing it as an important step toward improving engineering excellence and advancing national technological growth.
In her keynote address, the President of the Nigerian Society of Engineers, Engr. Margaret Aina Ogunsola, called the Olympiad a watershed moment in bridging the gap between academic knowledge and industry expectations. She said it serves as a national innovation incubator that will help transform final-year projects into commercially viable products. She explained that the programme offers structured mentorship, prototype development support, and intellectual property guidance. She confirmed that the NSE will provide expert support to ensure that students’ innovations meet global standards.
The organisers provided detailed information about how the Olympiad will be conducted. Applications opened on 20 November 2025 and will close on 11 January 2026. The first stage will be an intra-school screening, producing one winning team per participating school. After this stage, selected teams will receive mentorship and support to develop their concepts into prototypes. The second stage will involve regional contests, with five schools qualifying from each region. In total, 30 teams will progress to a mentorship and prototyping phase, where they will receive funding to develop their minimum viable products.
The third stage will narrow the competition to 12 teams, with two teams emerging from each region. These finalists will move into an intensive mentorship and business development boot camp designed to refine their prototypes. The Olympiad will end with the national grand finale on 11 April 2026, where four teams will be selected as winners of the competition.
Interested teams have been encouraged to register through the official portal at https://www.neo.org.ng.
