It was a surreal moment for Tomiwa Olayemi, 400l Actuarial Science student of the University of Lagos (UNILAG) and the brains behind “The-father Chow”, as his business, was announced winner of Business Innovation and Talent Expression (BITE) 2.0.
Olayemi trumped nine (9) other finalists who emerged from the 243 contestants who participated in an intense competition spanning about 5 months. He wowed the judges and audience with his business pitch at the grand finale of the competition held on Thursday, May 16, 2024 at the Faculty of Social Sciences (FSS) Lecture Theatre, UNILAG, Akoka.
Tomiwa Olayemi waltzed home with 2-million-naira prize money courtesy Oladele Fajemirokun Foundation and an additional 2 million naira from Emadeb Energy Services Limited, for his business idea which sought to scale up his service of providing students with quality, affordable and nutritious meals within and outside the campus.
Team Phoenix came in second (2nd) place, winning a prize of 1.5 million naira from the sponsors as well as an additional 1.5 million naira from Emadeb Energy Services Limited. Their pitch focused on solving the problem of plastic pollution through the creation of eco-friendly plastic waste paving blocks. According to the team represented by Aminat Ojikutu, a 300l Architecture student and Folarin Eribake, a 200l Biomedical Engineering student, these blocks would address the challenges of high maintenance costs, poor drainage and environmental impact associated with traditional paving materials.
Fladov, pitched by Titoluwa Amoo, an 100l Computer Engineering student and Daniel Ebabhi, a 200l Computer Engineering came in third (3rd) place, winning a prize of 750,000 naira, an additional 750,000 naira from Emadeb Energy Services Limited and 500,000 naira from Firstoption Support Services. Fladov is a go-to business platform for discovering and supporting local businesses in Nigeria.
The other seven finalists received consolation prizes of 200,000 naira each from Emadeb Energy Services Limited, just as additional prizes were awarded to deserving contestants as listed below. According to the CEO, Firstoption Support Services, Ayodeji Adepoju, the additional prizes were awarded to the above individuals because they showed exceptional potential and had touched on core areas of the organisation.
- Masters student of Process Engineering, UNILAG, Taiwo Yussuf smiled home with 700,000 naira from Oladele Fajemirokun Foundation for Best Innovation Prize his refrigerator prototype. He also got 500,000 naira plus sponsorship from Firstoption Support Services. His startup, Ty-Dami Energy Resources is a climate tech startup which seeks to solve the problem of food insecurity by developing a refrigerator that can last up to 7 days of extended cooling without batteries, while using captured CO2 as a refrigerant.
- Safanah Dhikrullah, a 200l student of the Department Physiotherapy and brain behind Safyarn Craft, received 500,000 naira from Firstoption Support Services for her innovative crochet bag venture.
- Abdulquadri Ojure, a 200l student of the Department of Economics and contestant who made it to the top 60 but not the top 10, also walked home with 750,000 naira from Firstoption Support Services, for his business enterprise “Mobile Academy Limited”. Mobile Academy offers top learning services packed with stimulating and interactive courses on a variety of subjects, ranging from personal to professional development.
Speaking at the event, the Vice-Chancellor, represented by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Management Services), Prof. Lucian Chukwu, reinforced UNILAG’s commitment to supporting its students towards becoming seasoned entrepreneurs right from the University. Welcoming representatives from University of Ibadan, Obafemi Awolowo University, Federal University of Agriculture Abeokuta, Federal University of Technology Akure and Federal University of Oye Ekiti, he charged the students to seize the opportunity to network, share insights and experiences, inspire one another and collectively explore innovative approaches that has the potential to revolutionize entrepreneurship education in Nigeria.
Director of the Entrepreneurship and Skills Development Centre (ESDC) at UNILAG and convener, Prof. Sunday Adebisi, stated that the B.I.T.E. 2.0. competition aimed to bring out the entrepreneur in students and encourage industries to recognize the entrepreneurial spirit, innovation, and talents of University of Lagos students. He added that the competition’s sponsors, the Oladele Fajemirokun Foundation, had decided to make the competition regional, thus, the next edition would be open to federal universities in South-West Nigeria.
The Executive Director, Oladele Fajemirokun Foundation who also served as Chairperson of the Panel of Judges, Olawunmi Fajemirokun, spoke about the foundation and encouraged the finalists as well as other students to remember their struggles and “always pay it forward” when the time comes.
Other Oladele Fajemirokun Foundation Directors and Executives who served as members of the panel of judges were: Mr. Kenechukwu Egbue, Mr. Timothy Oluwole, Mr. Kehinde Ariyibi and Mr. Timothy Ntol.
Some of the judges didn’t miss the action as they chipped in their two kobos. The CEO, Emadeb Energy Services Ltd, Adebowale Olujimi stated “as a businessperson, the campus is the best place to start an entrepreneurial journey”. He emphasised the need for the contestants to know what it is they were doing and doing it right. He further doubled the prize money of the three winners and awarded a sum of two hundred thousand naira (N200,000) each to the remaining seven finalists.
Co-founder Andela & Flutterwave and Founding Partner, Future Africa Innovation Fund, Iyioluwa Aboyeji expressed excitement at seeing the culture of entrepreneurship taking root in UNILAG. He talked about his first foray into entrepreneurship which failed, and how the failure did not deter him, as he thereafter learnt ways to do business. His words: “as an entrepreneur, whatever idea you have now does not have to be your best idea. Treat it as if it is, as it would help you a lot. In fact, whatever idea you have now IS NOT your best idea. It has to go through a lot of iterations and can be made better.” He urged the students to engage customers as well detractors so as to learn from them.
Dr. Olasupo Olusi, the MD, Bank of Industry (BOI) ably represented by the Head, SME Directorate, BOI, Uche Nwoka, congratulated the organisers of BITE 2.0, reiterated BOI’s commitment to supporting entrepreneurship and industrialisation of the country. She revealed that BOI would engage all the ten (10) finalists.
Founder, 390 Technologies and UNILAG alumnus, Opemipo Bolaji, pointed out the disruptions in the workplace and business, and charged students to ensure that “whatever you are doing, make sure you are doing something no one else can copy, competition-wise”.
The event also featured goodwill messages from winners of BITE 1.0.: Samuel Johnson of Waltersam Services, Zainab Alayande of Zeinny Craft and Victoria Itsuokor of Vickie’s Bags; some judges from previous rounds as well as Prof. Emily Ayo-John of Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB), Prof. Olalekan Yinusa of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife; Prof. Oyedunni Arologun of University of Ibadan; Dr. Oladunni Daramola of Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA) and Dr. Adebimpe Esan of Federal University, Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE), all representatives of their respective entrepreneurship centres.
Reporter: Ndidi J. Odinikaeze
Photographer: Ayo Oloyede
