On Sunday, 13th of August, 2023, Team Lithium, a team of 5 UIMSAItes, emerged winners of the second edition of the 2023 Naija Policy Hackathon organised by Policy Shapers which took place from the 11th to 13th of August, 2023.
The team, which was made up of Covenant Odedele (Team Lead), John Eriomala, Emmanuel Utibe, Abraham Miracle of the 300 Level Class, and Afeezah Wojuade of the 200 Level Class, bested four other teams at the final stage to emerged champions with their Policy Solution titled “The Nigerian Student Loan Program: Recommendations for Feasible Implementation of This Act”. They had initially qualified as finalists from a pool of over 50 teams, and 420 participants, from across the country.
The Naija Policy Hackathon, a 48-Hour Policy hack, is a competition aimed at providing opportunity for young people with varying interests in societal developmental issues to think, ideate and develop pragmatic policy recommendations that respond to development issues in Nigeria and aid national development. For this edition, participants were made to come up with policy solutions in 5 areas: The Nigeria Student Loan Program ,The Climate Change Act, Tech, AI & the Nigeria Startup Act , Agricultur & Food Security, and Taxation & Internal Revenue Generation. It is an innovation of Policy Shapers, a team of Policy Enthusiasts leveraging technology to mainstream youth in public policy in Nigeria by promoting policy ideation, dialogue, and advocacy led by young people.
John Eriomala
