The Nigerian Copyright Commission yesterday unveiled the winners of the 2023 National Essay Writing Competition.
The competition is meant to promote creativity among secondary school students, while at the same time improving their knowledge of copyright and its negative impact on the economy.
Over 600 entries were received for the three different categories – essay, poem and short stories.
In the essay category, Fridaous Ojulatayo Ikeoluwa of Muslim Model College, Ibadan, Oyo State, took home the first prize – HP laptop.
Egwu Favour Onyekachi of Government Secondary School, Kurudu, FCT came second and Angel Myra Mbanya of Olumawu School, FCT came third.
In the Spoken Words/Poem, Kesley Kalu Chibuike of St. Augustine College, New Nyanya, Nasarawa State, won the first position and went home with an HP laptop.
Solihull Abdullahi of Essence International School, Kaduna State came second and Sahara Isa-Yahaya of Joel Model Secondary School, Abuja came third.
In the short story category, Kamarachi Laura Ibeneme of St. Augustine School, New Nyanya, Nasarawa State, came first. Bello Beraccah Morolayo of Saint Anthony Secondary school, Ilorin Kwara State came second. Egbung Osowoaji Sarah of St Augustine School, New Nyanya, Nasarawa State came third.
Speaking at the prize giving ceremony, NCC Director General, Dr. John Asein, assured the students that the commission will publish their works.
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He assured them that it would publish the best of the write ups as a series.
Aisha Augie, Special Adviser (Digital Communication Strategy) to the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning in her keynote address expressed worries over the rise in digital piracy, which, she said, has become a perennial problem to the book industry.
She said piracy has affected millions of intellectual works which has also affected revenue.
“With the rise of digital media, piracy has become an increasing problem in the book industry. The effect of piracy is a problem because it has affected the book industry globally,” she said.
Also, the Minister of Education Adamu Adamu expressed hope that the competition will be beneficial to the students and that it will facilitate the growth of creative writing skills and promote national unity.
Adamu, who was represented by Mr. Oluwasegun Shobogun, also stressed the importance of writing skills, saying: “Possession of skills in essay writing will help in creating valuable and convincing piece. “
The General Manager, Music Copyright Society of Nigeria, Mr. Louis Udoh, commended NCC for the initiative, saying such initiative will help refocus Nigeria students.