Information and communication technology (ICT) revolution is not just enhancing communication. One of its devices, the telephone handset, is also putting money in the pockets of knowledge conscious youths and any smart IT keyboard puncher.
Ademola Fazaz
The means is devised by QuizToOwn Nigeria Limited, whose Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Ademola Fazaz, said the company has helped a lot of Nigerians through answering quiz through handsets and computers in the past four years.
The platform is accessible to students, small scale entrepreneurs, big businessmen, civil servants, lawyers, and those in any other profession.
Answering random questions on your area of specialisation on the website could fetch amounts from N10,000.
QuizToOwn Head of information technology (IT), Babangida Azeez, said the idea is to improve learning. “These days, you discover that our youths use their handsets only for social network chatting and receiving calls.
“But we thought it is also good to create awareness for them that their handsets can also be a source of learning and acquiring knowledge, and they can through it be empowered in their various areas of endeavour. We help them learn through electronic devices.
“So like this we aim to improve their reading culture. So if a student is holding a phone, the first thing he should be doing is to learn, revise what he has been thought in school and even improve on them by himself.”
Civil service quiz
The platform is conducting a quiz for civil servants in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, sponsored by the National Orientation Agency (NAO). It is tagged ‘Civil Servant of the Week’.
“Every week, we have ‘the best civil servant of the week,’” Azeez said. Civil servants take the quiz to know more about civil service rules, rights, government programmes and policies and job briefs.
“We go there every week to give an award to the best civil servant of the week. They use their computers, handsets or any other electronic device to participate in the quiz. When last we held it, the winner collected N10,000. But it has now increased to N20,000.”
Scholarship
This is a television show. In December 2013, QuizToOwn gave a scholarship of N50,000 to a student in Abuja, according to Azeez.
“We had questions loaded on our website. On getting there, each student will have an account opened and log in. So we have a scholarship quiz competition for all students in the country, and once you have the code to participate, you will see 10 questions that will come simultaneously.
“After answering the 10 questions, you will see the time you use and the numbers you answered correctly, and the correct questions to the questions for you to learn from. It is from there we pick the winner. It is those who will come for the grand finale we call clash of winners.”
In the clash of winners television show, the cash prize ranges from N50,000 to N1 million.
Empowerment by merit
This segment of the quiz is aimed at boosting the business of the winner. It is open to business people who answer business related questions. The prize is between N500,000 and N1 million.
The e-lesson
Students log on and read as much as they wish, using mobile devices or computers. It is like a mobile school lecture.
Determining winner
Azeez said everybody is assumed intelligent if they are IT literate. But there is a time-limit. Winning depends on ability to answer questions within a set time, usually in minutes. The pass mark is 70 per cent.
If one answers more questions correctly within the set time, he wins and appears on the “Clash of Winners TV Show.”
QuizToOwn began in 2010 in Abuja and now has offices in more than 20 states. It has conducted competitions in schools in the FCT and University of Lagos, where the ‘Best Student of the Week’ emerges every week.
Source of revenue
QuizToOwn makes its money through the sale of scratch cards that provide access to its website. A card costs N100.
