Winners of the Princewill's Trust Vision and Success Opportunity Challenge have departed for Dubai, for a 6 day all expenses paid trip. Over 7000 youths from Rivers State participated in the fiercely contested competition, where they were tested for courage, creativity, vision and the will to achieve results.

At the beginning, each applicant was screened and those who prequalified were required to produce and submit a business proposal to the consultant. A total of 10 individuals were selected to the final, where they were physically grilled on their individual proposals, by the independent educational consultant, appointed by Dubai Tourism. At the end of the exercise, four applicants scaled through what was designed to be a very stringent challenge. The four successful candidates for the first batch are Melford Ekene, Deborah Ibaningo, Samuel Onyeocha and Soruchi Nwanodi.

The trip which will last 6 days and will involve a visit to the World EXPO 2020, city tours, a desert safari, brainstorming sessions and many other activities.

The initiator of the challenge and founder of Princewill’s Trust, Tonye Princewill had this to say “I’m especially proud of the caliber of talent of youth we are sending to Dubai. We’ve pulled out all the stops to give these boys and girls an experience that will not be forgotten. It’s up to them now to use what they learn to improve their immediate environment and I want the change to begin within.

I want to thank Stella Obinwa-Fubara and the team at Dubai Tourism for making our lives so much easier. Unlike in the past where we did everything ourselves, their contributions have meant, all we had to do was get them there. This means more young people can get this experience as long as they are ready to meet the standards we set.

I’d also like to thank Nneka Oduah and her team at CLR for giving us a process that separates the wheat from the chaff and proving that there is no such thing as a free lunch. Finally, a big thank you to my team at Princewills Trust for letting me get on with other things, while they do all the work to make this a success. I feel confident; the future is in good hands.”

The second edition of the challenge kicks off on the first of December. Details for those willing to test their potential will be available on social media and in all the institutions of higher learning in Rivers state. The winners of the next batch will visit Dubai in the first quarter of 2022.