MOSWC 2024: 6 Nigerian Students Qualify For Championship

Six students have been selected from a number of schools to represent Nigeria in the forthcoming Microsoft Office Specialist World Championship (MOSWC) to be held in Disneyland, Anaheim, California, in the United States of America.

MOSWC is a yearly competition set to test the abilities of students in the use of Microsoft and its various tools. This year, the competition is scheduled to hold between July 28 and July 31. Nigeria is among 150 countries set to compete in this Championship.

All six Representatives were winners of the Nigerian version of the competition, the Microsoft Office Specialist Nigeria which was conducted by the ReadManna Empowerment initiative (REI) and ran from October 1, 2023, down to March 31, 2024.

The Chief Executive Officer of ReadManna, Mrs. Edna Agusto made it known that Nigeria has always secured a spot in the top ten contestants in almost every year the competition has run for.

However, she claimed that the country has been able to come both second and third place in the past fifteen years.

While speaking about the competition, Mrs. Agusto made it known that Zenith Bank is the main sponsor of Microsoft Office Specialist Nigeria and its major aim is to test students on their ability to navigate Microsoft Office tools, especially Microsoft Word, Microsoft PowerPoint and Microsoft Excel.

The competition revolves around mainly these three programmes because they are the most widely used productivity tools worldwide by people from various walks of life, ranging from business tycoons to writers and virtual assistants.

Agusto also said that the competition is an avenue to assess and demonstrate proficiency in these programmes.

The winners who will be going on to the international competition are:

Olamiposi Ayoola Ajisafe, a Microsoft Excel 2019 winner from Faith Academy, Gowon Estate, Lagos, with a perfect score of 1,000/1,000 at the competition;
Daniel Uzugbo, a Microsoft PowerPoint 2019 winner from Faith Academy, Canaanland, Ota, Ogun State, with a perfect score of 1,000/1,000;
Gabari Rume, a Microsoft Word 2019 winner from Grace High School, Gbagada, Lagos State, with another perfect score of 1,000/1,000;
Excel Chukwuemeka, a Microsoft PowerPoint Office365 winner from Faith Academy, Canaanland, Ota, Ogun State, with a perfect score of 1,000/1,000;
Arigbabu Oluwadamisola, a Microsoft Word Office 365 winner from Faith Academy, Canaanland, Ota, Ogun State, with a perfect score of 1,000/1,000;
Bolurinwa Fabuyi, a Microsoft Excel Office365 winner from City of Knowledge Academy, Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State, with a score of 980/1,000;

Agusto disclosed that these winners will be setting off to represent the Country alongside their Information and Communication Technology(ICT) teachers in the world Championship in the United States. The teachers chosen are:

Mr Stephen Aimufua, ICT teacher in Faith Academy, Ota, Ogun State and teacher of the student with the highest score in the 2023 MOS Nigeria Competition;

Mr Omotayo Adeniyi, the ICT teacher of Louisville Girls High School, Ijebu-Itele, Ogun State, is the school with the largest number of certified students in the 2024 Junior ReadManna under thirteen Computing Fundamentals National Competition.

While speaking on the Nigerian version of the competition, Agusto stated that the certification would help users become more proficient in using Microsoft tools and this will open up a lot of doors for them, especially in the ever-growing tech industry and digital world.

“It is globally recognised and gives certified users the opportunity to apply for jobs anywhere in the world. MOS certification also provides a solid foundation for advanced ICT training and certified users will be able to pursue training in advanced computer technologies,” she said.

She went further to explain that entries for the Nigerian version of MOS were received from secondary schools in Lagos, Abuja, Kwara, Akwa Ibom, Ogun, and Oyo States. Some universities such as Covenant University, Ota; Adeleke University, Ede, Osun State and Top Faith University, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State also sent in entries.

Out of 126 students, comprising about 68 boys and 58 girls who were shortlisted at the National Competition held in Uyo, Ikorodu, Ijebu-Ode, Abuja and Gbagada, these top six winners were selected to be Nigeria’s representatives.