8-year-old Nigerian kid Dapriye Tuvya Soala Benibo has brought great honor to his country on a global platform. Master Dapriye Benibo, a student at Holden Park School in Lekki, Lagos State, Nigeria, displayed exceptional talent by emerging as the winner of ‘Outstanding Animation’ at the International Kids Coding Competition (IKCC).
Dapriye Benibo scored 3.28 to emerge as one of the seven winners of ‘Outstanding Animation’ – a special certificate award in the 7-8-year-old category of the World Scratch Coding Competition 2023, conducted by IKCC.
The Competition, which closed on September 30, 2023, featured 1043 competitors from 936 schools drawn from 63 countries. It is among the tech competitions organized annually by IKCC, and is available only for specific age categories, 7-8, 9-10, 11-12, and 13-14. The Competition is a free platform where kids of specific age categories can register to compete with other participants across the globe. The participants have to upload unique individual projects in line with the rules and guidelines set by the organization.
At the initiative of NGO ‘Asociatia SASORYCODE’ (non-governmental and non-profit organization) and with the exceptional support of many partners and software companies, IKCC proudly supports children who have a passion for programming and computers.
“We care about our children! We care about the future! And the future is digital! We support children to perform in software programming, advanced technologies and computer science,” – IKCC.
The objective of IKCC is to assist youngsters in enhancing their coding abilities, encountering fresh obstacles, and attaining the utmost proficiency in software programming by crafting games, narratives, or animations.
“Children, you are our only hope for the future! We believe in you and hope that you will digitize the path for human race. With computer science and software engineering skills you will be able to conquer new planets and new galaxies, you will be able to survive,” – IKCC.
In a recent chat with Vanguard, Dapriye Benibo conveyed his enthusiasm and drive toward attaining prestigious international recognition.
“My name is Tuyva Benibo. I attend Holden Park School. I am 8 years old, and I am currently in year 4. I feel good about representing Nigeria and winning at the International Kids Coding Competition because I’ve never done it before, and the feeling is amazing. Winning the outstanding animation entails knowing how to code, make animations, and what blocks of codes to use.”
Dapriye Benibo shared his inspiration to acquire coding skills while offering advice to other kids.
“Every day when I was dropped off earlier in school, I went to Mr. Edward’s class and he taught me and the other participants how to code and how to get a good score on the project. I have been learning how to code for one year now. The experience is amazing because I can express my thoughts and imagination and I can also make awesome projects that will be worth watching and playing.”
“I would like to tell other children that they should keep coding once they’ve got really used to pulling on a sense of blocks and how to make really awesome projects.”
Edward Paul, the teacher of Benibo, expressed his pride in witnessing Dapriye Benibo’s representation of the nation. Additionally, he offered guidance to aspiring students, emphasizing the importance of determination.
“My name is Edward Paul. I was so glad when I saw that Dapriye Benibo won the coveted title. Looking at the list, with the number of countries and participants, and seeing Nigeria in that list, it was a proud moment for me being the teacher who taught Tuyva.”
“And from there, you can be inspired to pursue various careers and some of your opportunities can be exposed to them for working with tech companies because you’re looking out for skillful people that can fill out so many places that are actually vacant. So I feel there are lots of opportunities that are exposed to them. So I’m looking forward to them, liaising with other tech companies for opportunities, especially internationally, also looking at using careers from these opportunities, some being inspired to go to other parts.”
Similarly, the Assistant Head of School at Holden Park School, Veronica Mordi, conveyed her enthusiasm for the successful outcome of the project, citing the positive gains it has produced.
“My name is Veronica Mordi. I’m the Assistant Head of School of Holden Park School. I was really excited because our children have all along been engaging, you know, with coding lessons that they didn’t have in their clubs. You know, animations at all. And so I just felt “Wow, this is just our one chance to put them out there and let them explore it outside of the usual school environment,” because we are not just helping them learn in school, we want them to see the application of it, you know, the world of coding and animation and how it’s applicable to education, how they learn and they see the relevance in industries as well.“
“So the competition was just a good move for us and now hearing that we actually went and we did well. Not just well with you know, like everything really awesome for the children. The whole school is brimming with joy. They’re excited and beyond that, it just reinforces the fact that children are ready for this new century.”