At the EDAT Quiz Challenge 2026 held on January 27 in Benin City, award-winning media entrepreneur and Chair of the Fourthmainland Creator Fund, Chude Jideonwo, delivered a keynote address that reframed what it means to learn, create, and compete in a rapidly changing world. Speaking to students, educators, parents, and innovators gathered at Madonna Hall, St. Paul Catholic Church, Jideonwo challenged young Africans to recognise that the traditional barriers to opportunity have collapsed. “This is the most exciting time in history to be a creator from Africa, in Africa,” he said, arguing that gatekeeping, geography, and access no longer define who gets to be heard. “Overtaking is allowed. The old rules are broken.”
The EDAT Quiz Challenge 2026, organised by EDATECH, brought together over 100 secondary school teams from across Nigeria’s South-South region in a competition designed not just to test academic knowledge, but to reward resilience, collaboration, creativity, speed, and strategic thinking. With its innovative structure, including intergenerational teams made up of students, teachers, and parents, as well as the introduction of an AI Challenger as a benchmark rather than an opponent, the event embodied its theme: Human Brilliance Meets AI. Jideonwo’s address echoed this philosophy, emphasising that abundance, not scarcity, now defines the creator and knowledge economy. “The more content has appeared, the more the audience has grown,” he noted. “Nothing matters anymore except the courage to tell the story you want to tell and to put it on the global platform the world is already using.”
In closing, Jideonwo urged young people not to underestimate the scale of the opportunity before them. He stressed that economic hardship, national politics, or physical location no longer have to determine the reach or power of a young African’s voice. “With conviction, clarity, and courage, you can build an audience, grow influence, and create real value from exactly where you are,” he said. The EDAT Quiz Challenge 2026 stood as a practical demonstration of that belief, positioning education not as rote learning, but as preparation for leadership, innovation, and relevance in an AI-shaped future. As Jideonwo put it simply: “It’s a powerful time to be alive, and a powerful time to be an African creator.”
