How a TKM Foundation beneficiary competed and won at a Biotechnology competition
At TKM Foundation, we believe that investment in a young person is never wasted. Every scholarship, every opportunity, every door we open is a seed planted — and sometimes, we get to watch it bloom in the most extraordinary ways. Today, we are proud to share the story of Esther Olanrewaju, one of our beneficiaries, whose brilliance, dedication, and courage recently took her to the podium of a Biotechnology competition and brought her home a winner.
A World Where Living Things Change Lives
Biotechnology sits at the intersection of science and possibility. It is the discipline of harnessing living organisms, their cells, their genetic material, their biological processes, to solve real-world problems and improve the quality of human life. At its most profound, it involves understanding the very genetic composition of plants and animals: the blueprint of life itself.
It was into this world that Esther and three teammates were invited after months of rigorous training. Before the competition ever began, they had already been through an intensive preparatory phase, learning how to extract DNA from plants and animal blood, measure its concentration, and examine it under UV light. This was not surface-level exposure. This was science, hands-on and unfiltered.
Before the competition ever began, Esther had already crossed a threshold that many scientists spend years reaching, she had touched the blueprint of life.
Three Stages. Three Tests of Excellence.
The competition was structured across three demanding stages, each designed to probe a different dimension of the participants’ scientific knowledge and practical ability:
- Presentation
Each participant researched and presented a scientific topic to a panel of lecturers, a representative of the Vice Chancellor, and invited colleagues. Esther’s assigned topic was Electrophoresis — a fundamental laboratory technique used to separate DNA fragments. She prepared, she stood before the room, and she delivered.
- Quiz Competition
Following the presentations, participants were tested on the breadth of their scientific knowledge in a fast-paced quiz session held on the same day — requiring both depth of understanding and composure under pressure.
- Practical Session
The most hands-on and technical stage of all. Participants moved into the Animal Laboratory and performed real DNA extraction from Guinea fowl blood using a ZIMO extraction kit. On day two, they replicated the DNA using the Electrophoresis method, verified its concentration with a Nanodrop Spectrometer, and finally visualised the results under UV light.
Two Days in the Laboratory
The first day was a full immersion. After the presentations and quiz, Esther and her team moved into the Animal Laboratory where they extracted DNA from Guinea fowl blood using a ZIMO kit. It was careful, methodical, exacting work — the kind that demands full concentration. The extracted DNA was stored in a refrigerator overnight, waiting for the next stage.
Day two was about amplification and visualisation. The team used the Electrophoresis method to replicate the DNA creating enough material to work with and observe. Before that, they confirmed the DNA’s concentration using a Nanodrop Spectrometer, ensuring the quality of what they had extracted the day before. Then came the moment many scientists describe as quietly magical: viewing the results under UV light, watching the invisible become visible.
All practical sessions were conducted under strict supervision by an exceptional panel of judges most notably Mrs. Olufunmilayo Ayoka Adebambo, the first female Professor of Animal Breeding and Genetics in Nigeria, alongside the Vice Chancellor’s representative and other distinguished faculty members. To be evaluated by such a pioneering figure was itself an honour.
The Result
On the third day, when the results were announced, Esther’s name stood at the top. A TKM Foundation beneficiary, standing in a room full of scientists, and winning.
We could not be more proud. Not simply because she won — though that is worth celebrating loudly — but because of what the journey required of her. It required her to learn something unfamiliar, to train with discipline, to stand before accomplished academics and present with confidence, to work under pressure, and to perform precise scientific procedures with her own hands.
Esther did all of it. And she did it with excellence.
This Is Why We Do What We Do
Esther’s story is not an exception. It is the vision made real. At TKM Foundation, we exist to ensure that potential is never buried under circumstance. We exist to make sure that young Nigerians who have the hunger, the intelligence, and the drive are not held back by the absence of opportunity.
When Esther walked into that laboratory, she carried more than herself. She carried every young person we have ever believed in. And when she walked out a winner, she reminded us, and we hope she reminds you of what becomes possible when a community decides to invest in its own.
She carried every young person we have ever believed in and when she won, she reminded the world what becomes possible when a community invests in its own.
Congratulations Esther! We see you. We celebrate you. And we cannot wait to see what you do next.
To support more young people like Esther, and to learn how TKM Foundation is shaping the next generation of Nigerian excellence, reach out to us today.
