It all started on the 14th of March 2022, when Dr Busola Akinpade introduced “Think Outside The Box” to the ladies of Apinke Girl’s initiative. Since many Nigeria universities were on strike, she thought this could be an opportunity to make the ladies learn new skills and be creative in whatever aspect they could think of and this would come with a prize and other surprising miscellaneous gifts attached to it. The competition ended on 29th of April 2022 with presentations from each of the participants.

Thanks to Mrs Bim Adegbite, the founder of Apinke Girls’ who was very instrumental to the success of the program.

The presentation began with excitement as Opeyemi showcased her project. She was able to produce bracelets from waste product (disposed plastic bottle), she called it “Treasures From Waste”.

The second presenter was Tracy, she was able to bake delicious yummy cake, small chops and also popcorns. According to her, this business came to reality with a little capital, despite the challenges she faced, she was able to turn it around to her own and her business has been improving gradually.

The third presenter was Joy, her project was “Flyer Making”. She was able to make beautiful flyers for Apinke girl’s. Despite the challenges, she faced, and how she was about giving up, she said she was motivated by Aunty Busola who helped and walked her through the journey despite the little timing. Joy had to learn a new program and find a way to get access to a computer while struggling with the lack of power and more.

The fourth presentation was held by Chiamaka, she was able to make tie-dye clothings. According to her, she was unable to find jobs that could pay her enough money to take care of her needs so she decided to learn textile designing from a friend so as not to be idle during the ongoing strike. She presented beautiful pictures of some of the clothes she made with different designs and colors.

The last presenter was Blessing. She utilised her time in learning Script Writing on Udemy and got certified but according to her she said she wasn’t satisfied and needed to add something else to her list of skills. She went into hair revamping and she presented beautiful pictures of wigs she was able to revamp. She called it “Hair Rebirth”. She was also able to make flyers for her new business.

The competition ended with so much excitement as Aunty Busola drew the curtain with appreciation and more inspired words. Airtime was sent to the five ladies that were able to present and this was sponsored by a friend of the organization, Mr Tunde Olatubosun.

The winners of the Think Outside The Box 2022 was announced. The winner was given to Opeyemi whose presentation was “Waste to Treasure” and a prize of 25,000 in naira. The first runner up was given to Chiamaka whose presentation was Tie-dye making and a prize of 10,000 in naira. Other presenters were awarded 5,000 in naira each.

The prizes were given to the ladies to help support and encourage them grow in their business.

Chiamaka is a second year student studying Science laboratory technology at the Federal University of Technology Owerri