Her pencils grow into plants: a Nigerian schoolgirl's green idea just won ₦1 million (about $730)

Jane-Frances Chiamaka Gabriel, a student at Queen of the Rosary College in Onitsha, Anambra State, has won the 2026 National Head Girl Competition, organised by the Women in Leadership Advancement Network (WILAN Global) to give young female student leaders a national stage. She came through a field that was narrowed to the top 16, then the top eight and a final three, winning with a simple, clever project: pencils made from recycled paper that can be planted when they are too short to write with, designed to teach younger children about climate change and everyday sustainable habits. Her prize is ₦1 million (about $730) and a new laptop, and her trip to the Lagos final was fully paid. Fetuga Ameerah of the International School, University of Lagos, placed second, and Oritsematosan Jackson of Royal Family Academy, Abuja, third. Her principal, Rev. Sr. Maria Chijioke Nwankwo, said the school teaches entrepreneurship and digital skills because girls should be equipped 'not just to participate in the future economy but to shape it' — and Gabriel credited her coach, John Onuigbo, with helping her turn an idea into a practical solution.

SDG 4 · Quality education — Mechanism: individual leader