55-year-old wins adult literacy quiz contest

By Olabisi Salau

Two women, one of them 55, won the top prizes of the 2020 Adult Literacy quiz competition, organised by the Lagos State Agency for Mass Education at the Adeyemi Bero Auditorium recently.

Their success was a departure from  the past which has seen the competition dominated by men.

Mrs. Aminat Jankalewa won the English category of the competition, while Mrs. Elizabeth Olayemi won the Yoruba category.

They were rewarded with generators for their efforts.

The winners thanked the Lagos State Government for providing a platform for adult literacy which they described as a second chance.

Mrs. Jankalewa said: “This competition gives learning opportunities to adults like me who have opened up their minds to the possibility of learning. Why? I am 55 years old and I dropped  out of school in JSS 2. I could not finish my secondary education. When I learnt about this programme for adults, I realised that it is never too late to be learned.  The competition has exposed me to knowledge beyond my expectations.”

Winner of the Yoruba category, Mrs. Olayemi, said it was not an easy journey, but as an adult still interested in learning, she had learnt to be exceptional in class work or any assignment she was given.

“To be here today and win has been a journey for knowledge and to change the life I wanted  for myself.  Encouragement such as this goes a long way in helping adults like me grow interest in learning.”

“That  the Lagos State government held such quiz contest shows that they believe that education should not be limited and I am so happy that adults are not limited. We are being motivated and instructed correctly and this competition has shown how effective learning could be in adult life,” she said.

The second and third placed winners in the English category were Aderinsola Ganiyat and Yetunde Ayantude, while Moses Abiodun won second place in the Yoruba category.They were rewarded with table top gas cookers and cylinders.

The facilitators and the rest of the 20 contestants also got table top cookers as consolation prize.

The Permanent Secretary, Office of the Special Adviser on Education (OSAE), Mr. Waheed Kasali, underscored the importance of adult literacy to the state’s development plan.

“For us in Lagos State, it is about the smart city. For us to get to that smart city status, everybody must appear smart and the only way to do that is the ability to read and write. In Lagos, learning is very key.That is  why we have EKO NKE KOO, (Lagos is Learning) and the only way one can survive in a mega city is the ability to communicate and you can only communicate no matter your age, if you can read or  write,” he said.

On her part, the Director of the agency, Mrs. Oluwakemi Kalesanwo, urged adults who could not read and write to take advantage of the agency’s 772 centres to learn for free on the tabs of the Lagos State government.

“Over the years the agency has been conducting this competition. We have about 772 centres in the state – the ones the government established, and we have partnerships with various agencies for others. We go round the state sensitising and mobilising them, that is how we get learners and adults see this as a second chance.

“Today’s programme showcases our best student participants in the area of general studies in Yoruba and English language and we have put in effort as educators to appreciate their sacrifice to learning. Because it is not easy being an adult and still be interested in learning, so we put together this quiz competition to inform them that we see them making sacrifices for education,’’ she said.