Naomi Agha
Reel Foundation, a non-governmental organization (NGO) has announced winners of The REEL Young Writers Challenge for children between the ages of 7 and 13. In the 10 to13 years category, Miss Ramlah Ibrahim emerged winner of first place position with a cash price of N50,000 and a Tablet, Miss Ola Inioluwa came second and a cash price of N30,000 and a tablet, Miss Chidera Michelle Duru came third and received a cash prize of N15,000 and a tablet. The remaining seven finalists received cash prizes of N10,000 each as well as 9ja kids activity books.
For the 7 to 9 years category, Oluwademilade Vidose Eli came first and received a cash prize of N20,000 9ja kids activity books and a scholarship to attend IRead Story Writers Academy. David Khalid came second and won a cash prize of N15,000, 9ja kids activity books, and a scholarship to attend iRead Story Writers Academy while Grace Oluwadarasimi Ogunrotimi came third and received a cash prize of N10,000, 9ja kids activity books, and a scholarship to attend iRead Story Writers Academy.
Founder Reel Foundation, Mrs. Ajoke Adeola said that the contest was aimed at igniting imagination and creativity as well as rewarding diligence and excellence in children. According to her, ”imagination and creativity are crucial to children’s learning and development. The ability of a child to spin these skills into a story is phenomenal and should be encouraged and developed. In the words of Albert Einstein, ‘Imagination is more important than knowledge, knowledge is limited, imagination encircles the world’. It is against this backdrop that REEL foundation launched this contest, she said. Taking into consideration the learning gaps that had been created due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the challenge was designed to provide an avenue for the children to be resourcefully engaged outside the school environment.
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The topic of the challenge was for applicants to write a story on how Covid-19 has impacted their lives or the life of people around them and what they have learned from the experience of staying at home. According to Mrs. Adeola, “we were deliberate in our emphasis on a story. This is because we wanted them to infuse some level of imagination and creativity into chronicling the unusual experience of being in a lockdown”, she added.
The performances of the applications were judged by their imagination, creativity, descriptive language, mechanical accuracy, and the judges’ impression.
The attendants of the event included the judges: Mr. Ibrahim Babatunde, a Magazine writer who has stories shortlisted for Give Africa’s Writing Contest, Mrs. Fun Ilori, Founder iRead Mobile Library, and the CEO iRise Model School, and Mrs. Rebecca Ebenezer Abiola, a behaviour change communication specialist and peacebuilding expert CEO of 9ja kids, Mrs. Titilayo, finalists, and their parents.
Out of 342 applications, only 15 made it to the grand finale, ten from the 10 to13 years category, and five from the 7 to 9 years category. The sponsor of the event is Total E&P Nigeria Multipurpose Co-operative Society Limited.
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