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By Gabriel Dike
Winners of the 2022 Bishop Mike Okonkwo Annual Essay competition for Nigeria Secondary Schools were showered with cash, computers to schools, plagues, laptop and educational materials.
At the award ceremony in Lagos, the students and the schools smiled home with different prizes. Guests applauded the outstanding performance of the students.
Among dignitaries that graced the award ceremony include former Vice President under General Ibrahim Babangida, Commodore Ebitu Ukiwe (retd), former President Nigerian Economic Summit Group, Prof. Anya O. Anya, representatives of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Presiding Bishop of The Redeemed Evangelical Mission (TREM), Bishop Mike Okonkwo, his wife Bishop Peace Okonkwo, religious leaders, schools and students.
Schools in Lagos State dominated the award. Out of ten schools it produced six schools. Interestingly, three are from public schools.
The Lagos Schools are State High School, GRA, Ikeja, which produced the winner of the competition, Ijegun Senior Comprehensive High School, Isolo, also produced the second best, Ikeja Senior High School, GRA Ikeja (10th position) and Dorego Private Academy Lagos (6th Place).
First position went to Oluwanifemi Ayeni of State High School, GRA Ikeja. In the first round of the competition, she scored 58 percent and 71 percent in the second round to emerge the winner with 65 percent.
Abolaji Yekini of Ijegun Senior Comprehensive High School, Isolo, took the 2nd position. He got 59 percent in the first round and scored 68 percent in the second round with aggregate of 64 percent Leila Eneche from Vivian Fowler Memorial College for Girls, Oregun Ikeja, obtained 60 percent in the first round and 65 percent in the second round. She scored 63 percent to emerge third position in the competition.
The 3rd position went to a private school in Benue State 5th; while 7th and 8th positions went to schools in Ogun State.
In the first round, over 1,000 students participated in the competition and the title is: “Nigeria country at war against itself: The problems, the solutions and the way forward.
The Examiners lead by Prof. Akachi Ezeigbo, marked and shortlisted the ten best students for the second and final round in Lagos.
In the 2nd round, the ten students wrote on “2023 election a new Nigeria or a descent into chaos.”
Ayein, 15, went home with N100, 000, personal laptop, a trophy and a plague. Her received three sets of computers.
Fifteen-year-old, Yekini, was presented with cheque of N75, 000; a plague and his school got two sets of computers. While, 13, year old, Eneche received N50, 000 cheque, a plague and her school was presented with a computer set.
The Examiner of the essay competition described the topic as friendly, which mapped out the structural expectations of the informed students.
The examiner report was read by Dr. Adaobi Muo, of the National Institute of Nigerian Language, Aba, Abia State, on behalf of the Chief Examiner, Prof. Akachi Ezeigbo, said the two surprising outcomes are evident in the 2022 essay competition, first is the back-to-back scores of the winners, which showed the keen nature of the competition and originality of the efforts put into it.
She said the second outcome is that no students in the first three positions during the first round were able to hold their place.
“This suggest involvement of invisible hands during the first round and also the need to continue with the second round to strengthen the integrity of the competition,” she observed.
Commodore Ukiwe, Prof. Anya and representatives of Governor Sanwo-Olu, commended Bishop Okonkwo for initiating the essay competition for students in the country.
