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From Aloysius Attah, Onitsha
Secondary school teachers and students who excelled in science subjects within Onitsha Archdiocese, Anambra State, smiled home recently with various prizes, courtesy of the Catholic Bishop of Onitsha Archdiocese, Most Rev. Valerian Okeke, at the fifth edition of the Archbishop Valerian Okeke Science Competition (AVOSCO) initiated by the archbishop to encourage excellence in the sciences, which he said the future leans on.
The annual competition takes a rigorous process of examinations and screening from the regions to the archdiocese, where those who could not meet the required scores are eliminated, until the final selection stage where the best 10 students are picked in the junior and senior categories.
Speaking during the presentation of the prizes, Archbishop Okeke said there was need to get the students to start loving science, and the best way to do so was to introduce the competition.
He congratulated the winners and encouraged those who lost to work harder to ensure they win next time. He appreciated the healthy competition, telling the winners to really count themselves as intelligent to have emerged victorious, even as he announced that the prizes for next year would be greater.
“If you want people to succeed, encourage them when they work harder. We have to thank the students and teachers who have outpaced others in performance. Our students have excelled in many competitions at the state, national and international levels, and we are happy about that,” he said.
Asked by a student what motivated his passion for education, the archbishop said his motivation came from the Bible, which urged training of children in the right way to go so that they won’t depart from that way as they grow.
“Being in my position by the grace of God as a father, shepherd and pastor of souls, it is my deep desire to see you become the best of what God has put in you. You cannot become the best, if you are not properly trained. A piece of wood remains a piece of wood until the carver or the artist carves it into an image. That image has always been inside the wood but it remains unnoticed until the wood is cut down, chiseled out as a statue from the wood.
“Your talent can be in you and you live and die without making use of it. One of the ways of discovering your talent is through good and quality education. And when you discover your talent, you live life fulfilled and not just to exist, because you will use your talent to serve God, your community, your neighbour, and to make yourself happy. My interest is to make you great because what motivates my love for education is my love for you and for your greatness,” he said.
Onitsha archdiocesan education secretary, Rev. Fr. Paschal Onwugbenu, thanked the archbishop for providing the enabling environment for academics and spirituality to thrive in the mission schools in the archdiocese. He stated that archbishop Okeke has invested lavishly in training many priests up to doctorate degree levels, while there was no compromise of standard in all mission schools in the archdiocese.
Presenting the winners, Mrs. Chinwe Ezerioha announced for the junior category Igwilo Munachi Deborah, from Regina Pacis Model Secondary School, Onitsha, as the first position; Iji John Paul, from All Hallows Seminary, Onitsha, second position; while Okwuego Somto Henry, from Divine Rays British School, Obosi, won the third position.
In the senior category, Ofoama Ifeanyi Ernest from Divine Rays British School, Obosi, scored the first position, while Ayalogu Chukwudi Bruno, from All Hallows Seminary, Onitsha, took the second position and Ekemezie Franklin Ifeanyichukwu, from Christ the King College, Onitsha, took the third position. Other winners from fourth to 10th positions in the two categories were also listed.
The winners, including schools and their teachers, carted away prizes, ranging from computers, white boards, printers with photocopier machine, cash prizes and laptop computer to the first prize winner in the senior category.
The first prize winner in the senior category, Ofoama Ifeanyichukwu, described the feat as amazing. He said the journey to the top was tough but God gave him the grace to remain steadfast even when they stayed back in school for preparation when others went home for the long vacation.
Principal, Divine Rays Secondary School, Obosi, Ezeibeanu Stephanie, said their hard work paid off. She said they doubled their efforts when they remembered the calibre of people they were coming to compete with.
“The students believed in themselves and the teachers also coached them well,” she said.
