The Nation Newspaper

Tag: essay

  • Girls claim top spots in essay contest

    The top three prizes in the 13th Mike Okonkwo National Essay competition for Secondary school pupils will be going to females next month.

    Fadilah Saliu-Ahmed of Zamani College, Kaduna scored 75 percent in the first and second stage examination.  She beat Barakat Adebayo of Roshallom International School, Egbeda and Wuraola Adeoye of Fountain Height Secondary School, Surulere, both in Lagos, to second and third places.

    She will be presented with N100,000, a laptop, plaque, as well as three computers and a printer for her school during the Okonkwo Annual Lecture holding at the MUSON Centre on September 1.

    Barakat will getN75,000, a plaque and two computers and a printer for her school; while Wuraola gets N50,000, plaque and a computer.

    They submitted entries on: “The State of Nigeria Nation: Redefining Our Values”, which is also the theme of the lecture in the first stage.

    For the second stage written at the headquarters of The Redeemed Evangelical Mission (TREM) in Lagos, they wrote on “Adopting and Practicing Tolerance as a Core Value in Nigeria” with four other finalists.

    The chief examiner of the competition, Prof Akachi Ezeigbo described Fadilah as a natural as she wrote in a way that expressed her understanding of grammatical laws.

    Prof Ezeigbo said: “She wrote with tact in a natural and effortless way. Her expressive ability and the application of necessary grammatically disposition clinched her the prize.

    She added that stricter measures were employed this year to avoid issues such as collaborating and plagiarism.

    “We had 846 entries this year. The organisers introduced a filtering procedure and quality enhancement mechanisms, which ensured that only good and judgeable essays got to the Judges for assessment.  The formation of an alumni association is becoming an increasing possibility. This year, incidences of copying, collaboration and plagiarisms that regularly characterize the exercise in preceding years have reduced significantly”.

    Consolation prize of N20,000 will be given to fourth placed Oluchi Onyenso of Corona Secondary School, Agbara; Moradeyo Olaitan of Fountain Height Secondary School (fifth); Nathaniel Brown of Ritman College, Akwa-Ibom (sixth); and  Ibe Solomon (seventh) of Township Comprehensive Secondary School,  Imo State.

    The Mike Okonkwo Essay Competition was initiated in 2004, as part of activities to celebrate the birthday of the Presiding Bishop of TREM, Dr. Mike Okonkwo (MFR) and to contribute to the development of the education sector.

  • 2016 Rising Tide Foundation/ALOD and The Nation Essay Winners

    We are pleased to announce the results of the 2016 Rising Tide Foundation/Network for a Free Society/African Liberty Organisation for Development (ALOD) and The Nation Essay Competition.

     

    We received 634 entries from 22 countries across the Africa; 548 were qualified and sent to our judges comprising academics and professionals. They chose the best 80 entries for another round of assessment, out of which 25 entries went to the final round of assessment.

     

    The following criteria were chosen for grading the entries:

    • Evidence presented – 30 per cent
    • Analysis of the evidence – 30 per cent
    • Originality – 15 per cent
    • Grammar and style – 15 per cent
    • Structure – 10 per cent

     

    The majority of participants showed better understanding of the theme above 60 per cent level. The top five contestants scored 70 per cent to win the contest.

     

    The winners and their prizes are announced as follows:

     

    1st – George Ayittey (Platinum Prize): $1,000 and scholarship to the Liberty and Entrepreneurship Camp at St. Paul University, Limuru, Kenya from July 14-17, 2016

    (Linus Okechukwu Unah ,Mass Communication, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Enugu State, Nigeria)

     

    2nd – Anthony Fisher (Gold Prize): $700 and scholarship to the Liberty and Entrepreneurship Camp at St. Paul University, Limuru, Kenya from July 14-17, 2016

    (Hamzat Oluwasheyi Joshua, Mass Communication, University of Maiduguri, Borno State, Nigeria)

     

    3rd – Franklin Cudjoe (Silver Prize): $500 and scholarship to the Liberty and Entrepreneurship Camp at St. Paul University, Limuru, Kenya from July 14-17, 2016

    (Gift Chatina, Business Administration, The Malawi Polytechnic, Malawi)

     

    4th – The Nation CAMPUSLIFE (Media Bronze Prize): $300 and scholarship to the Liberty and Entrepreneurship Camp at St. Paul University.Limuru. Kenya from July 14-17, 2016.

    (Christopher Kilatu, Land Management and Valuation, Ardhi University, Dar Salaam, Tanzania)

     

    5th – Rejoice Ngwenya: (Media Bronze Prize): $250 and scholarship to the Liberty and Entrepreneurship Camp at St. Paul University, Limuru, Kenya from July 14-17, 2016.

    (Thabiso Mondlane, Finance with Accounting, University of Cape Town (UCT), South Africa)

     

    We also have 7 consolation prizes of $50 each.

     

    Winners should please get in touch with Adedayo Thomas at essay@alodpolicy.org or telephone number: +234 802 223 9554

  • Mike Okonkwo invites entries for essay competition

    This year’s Children’s Day on May 27 is the deadline for secondary school pupils nationwide to submit entries for the 13th Mike Okonkwo National Essay Competition.

    They are to write 2,000 words on the topic: “The state of the Nigerian nation: Redefining our values”.

    Winners of the competition will be unveiled during the 17th Mike Okonkwo Annual Lecture, scheduled to hold September 1, 2016 at the MUSON Centre, Onikan, Lagos.

    The competition and the lecture are part of activities held yearly to mark the birthday of Bishop Okonkwo, who turns 71 this year.

    The cleric initiated the lecture series in 2000 to contribute his quota to national development; and the competition to horn the writing skills of secondary school pupils as well as groom them as solutions providers to challenges facing the country.

    The overall best essayist will get a cash prize of N100,000, laptop, trophy and plaque, as well as three desktop computers and a printer for the school.  The second placed will get N75,000 and a plaque, and two computers and a printer for the school; while the third placed winner will be rewarded with N50,000 and a plaque and one computer for the school.

    Past topics of the competition, which are also the same as the lecture, include: “Securing the Nigerian future: Improving the standards of education (2004)”; “Building leaders for tomorrow: A collective responsibility (2005)”; “Lawlessness and the rule of law in the Nigerian society” (2006); “Political office and governance: For gain or service?” (2007); “The role of judiciary in sustenance of democracy” (2008); “Global economic trend: The alternatives for Nigeria” (2009); and “Nigeria at 50: Its leadership, development and the future” (2010).

    Others are: “Survival of Nigerian state: Political and economic implications” (2011); “Dependence of Nigeria economy on crude oil any alternatives?” (2012); “Overcoming the Nigerian security challenges: A panacea for national growth and development” (2013); “The Power of Your Vote: A catalyst for a stable and united Nigeria” (2014); and “The Nigerian Political Class and the Citizens Quest for Good Governance” (2015).

  • Port Harcourt school pupil wins Mike Okonkwo essay contest

    Port Harcourt school pupil wins Mike Okonkwo essay contest

    With a score of 73 per cent, Chisom Emeto of Port Harcourt International School, Rivers State, has won this year’s Mike Okonkwo National Essay Competition for Secondary School pupils.

    Chisom submitted the best of 2,997 entries on the topic: “The Nigerian political class and the citizens quest for good governance” received from secondary school pupils across the country.

    He also scored highest (66 per cent) in the second stage examination for the top 10 entries organised to authenticate their authors.

    Chief Examiner for the competition, Prof. Akachi Ezeigbo of the English Department, University of Lagos (UNILAG) described Chisom’s essay as detailed and of good quality “for his ability to engage the subject by showing how citizens have been the culprit in entrenching bad governance. He then proposed what must be done to institute a political class that will deliver good governance.”

    Chisom and seven others would be honoured on September 3, during the Bishop Mike Okonkwo Annual Lecture, which is being organised to celebrate the 70th birthday of Bishop Mike Okonkwo, the Presiding bishop of The Redeemed Evangelical Mission (TREM).

    The runners up are Asuquo Mirabel of Redeemers International Secondary School, Eastwest Road, Nkpolu, also in Port Harcourt, who came second with 72 per cent in the first stage and 65 in the second stage; Ihejirika Jonathan Ikechukwu of King’s College Lagos, who came third (71 per cent, and 60); and Awe Iyanuoluwa Modupe of Chapel Secondary Schooln Ilorin,  who scored 65 and 56 to place fourth.

    Others are: Fifth placed Aladegbami Oluwadamilola of Hallmark Secondary School Ondo State; sixth placed Muhammed Babayo of Premier Academy, Lugbe, Abuja and seventh placed Iro Akanma of Kuramo Senior Secondary School, Victoria Island, Lagos (60 and 50).

    Chisom will get a cheque of N100,000, a laptop, plaque, and three computers and a printer for his school.

    Mirabel will get N75,000, a plaque and two computers and a printer for her school, while Ihejirika will go home with N50,000, a plaque and a computer for his scools.

    The others will get a consolation price of N20,000 each.

    The Mike Okonkwo National Essay Competition, initiated in 2004, as part of activities to celebrate Dr Okonkwo’s birthday, is part of his efforts to contribute to the development of the country’s education sector.

     

  • Poly student wins essay contest

    Poly student wins essay contest

    A student of Rufus Giwa Polytechnic in Owo (RUGIPO), Ondo State, Joseph Ezekiel Temitope, has emerged winner of Mama Ye Essay Competition held for tertiary institutions in the state.

    Joseph, a HND II Mass Communication student, came first in contest, which had participants from tertiary institutions in the state. The theme of the essay was: Political office holders, aspirants to deliver on promises for maternal and new born project.

    At the prize presentation and award ceremony held at Mega School Hall in Akure, Joseph was presented with a laptop and three-month internship that would open opportunity for him to gain experience in Non-Governmental Organization (NGO).

    MamaYe Project is an NGO which is seeking to harness the participants’ contributions to implement its strategies.

    The competition, according to the state coordinator of the MamaYe Project, Mrs. Adenike Badiora, was aimed at involving the youth towards improvement of maternal and newborn health in the state.

    Other institutions that took part in the competition included Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA), Adeyemi College of Education, Ondo and All States College of Education, Ero.

  • Mike Okonkwo Essay Contest begins

    Mike Okonkwo Essay Contest begins

    The Nigerian Political Class and the Citizens Quest for Good Governance” is the topic for the 12th Mike Okonkwo National Essay Competition for secondary school pupils.

    They have until May 15 to send in a 2,000-word essay on the topic, which will also be the focus of the 16th Mike Okonkwo Annual Lecture.

    The top 10 essayists would be rewarded on the day of the lecture, which would hold as part of activities to commemorate the 70th Birthday of Bishop Mike Okonkwo, the founder of The Redeemed Evangelical Mission (TREM) on September 3 at the MUSON Centre, Onikan, Lagos.

    Bishop Okonkwo initiated the lecture in 2000 to sensitise Nigerians to issues of nation building. The competition started four years later to improve the writing skills of secondary school pupils and engage them in public discourse with the aim of challenging them to proffer solutions to Nigeria’s problems.

    Winners of the past 11 editions of the competition have emerged from both public and private secondary schools located in various parts of the country. One of the most outstanding winners was Matthew Adeiza, who won the second edition as a pupil of Community Secondary School Adavi-Eba, in Kogi State in 2005.

    He was sponsored on full scholarship by the church for his university education at the University of Jos (UNIJOS).

    Adeiza has followed up with other scholarships, including one to study for his masters at the Oxford University. Some other past winners also won the competition more than once.  They include: Idam Ogonnia, who came third in 2006 and 2007 as a pupil of Queen’s College, Yaba; and Mark Nwanbiankae of the Lagos State Senior Model College, Badore, who came third in 2012 and second in 2013.

    However Ahia Fego has the unbeaten record of winning the competition thrice.

    He came second in 2010, and first in 2011 and 2012 editions as a pupil of Brilliant Child College, Bariga, Lagos.

    This year the top three winners with get between N100,000 and N50,000 as cash prizes, as well as computers and printers for their schools.

     

  • NSE rewards essay winners

    How can Nigeria build a financially-savvy generation of youths? Answers to this question were provided by secondary school pupils in their entries submitted for 2014 Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) Essay competition.

    Miss Chiamaka Onuh Sophie, a Senior Secondary School (SSS) 3 pupil of Nikky T High School in Aba, Abia State, was declared winner of the contest at the grand finale ceremony held in Civic Centre on Victoria Island, Lagos.

    Chiamaka was presented with N700,000 cheque, which include scholarship worth N400,000 and N300,000 equity investment.

    The contest, which is sponsored by Access Bank Plc, is held yearly to encourage pupils in secondary schools across the nation apply real-world economic trend and research for the development of their knowledge in financial investment.

    The winners were selected through rigorous judging process by capital market professionals, who evaluated pupils’ entries. Contestants were judged according to their knowledge of stock market and factors that drive investments.

    Over 60 finalists nationwide were invited to take part in the second level assessment, which produced 10 national winners among whom three finalists.

    In his speech, the NSE Chief Executive Officer, Mr Oscar Onyema, said he was touched by the brilliance displayed by the pupils through their write-ups. With such wisdom, the nation’s future is bright, he said.

    He said: “In the past 14 years, the Nigerian Stock Exchange has, through this laudable initiative, positively impacted on the lives of many youths in various secondary schools.  I am particularly elated that NSE is championing this value-adding programme, which is targeted at promoting sound financial literacy among our youths.”

    In his remark, the Managing Director of Access Bank, Mr Herbert Wigwe, represented by Mr Elias Igbiakenzua, said the bank believes in the future of the country, which was why it partnered with the NSE to invest in pupils’ intellectual ability.

    Igbiakenzua said: “Access Bank has maintained a policy to pursue anything that is sustainable and one of such is the investment in the intellectual development of youths, which is what the NSE Essay competition stands for. We will continue to support the initiative for as long as it exists.”

    The first runner up is Blessing Ejike Mbilite of Beth Roots Model Secondary School in Onitsha, Anambra State, while the second runner up is Prince Dan Onmonya of Mount Saint Gabriel’s Secondary School in Makurdi, Benue State. They were given scholarship and equity investment N500,000 and N400,000 respectively.

     

  • 12 for UBA essay final

    Twelve senior secondary school pupils have been shortlisted for the final round of the UBA Foundation’s National Essay Competition.

    The entries for the essay titled: “Is Social Media a safe place to make friends?” were evaluated by four professors of English Language from different Nigerian universities.

    The 12 highest scoring candidates selected are: Orowale Promise of Baptist High School, Akwanga, Nasarawa State; Abidoye Adeola, Breakthrough Academy, Lagos;  Durueke Clinton, International School, University of Lagos, Lagos; Sunday Kenneth, Dority International Secondary School, Aba, Abia State; and Obi Daniel Chukwudu of  St. Thomas Secondary School, Kano, Kano State.

    Others are:  Ogbonnaya Lydia, St. Louis Catholic Girls Secondary School, Ondo; Khadijah Akinleye, Crescent College, Lagos; Orji Ubachukwu, Dority International Secondary School, Aba; Doko Timilehin, CMS Grammar School, Lagos; Fabelurin Fehintoluwa, Maverick College, Ibadan, Oyo State; Zubie-Okolo Ganiru, Federal Government College, Enugu, Enugu State; and George Ekong, Nobles International School, Uyo, Akwa-Ibom State.

    The competition, which started in 2011, is a follow up on the Foundation’s Read Africa Initiative and aims at providing a competitive platform to develop the intellectual and writing abilities of senior secondary school students in Nigeria.

    Ijeoma Aso, MD/CEO UBA Foundation praised the quality of the over 2,000 entries received for this year’s competition.

    “We noticed significant improvement in the quality of entries in this year’s competition. We commend all students who took time to send in an entry.”

     

     

  • Essay contest for undergrads

    The Nigeria Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ) has called for entries for its essay contest titled: The need to include gender sensitive reporting in Mass Communication schools’ curriculum. The competition was part of the activities marking NAWOJ 25th anniversary.

    Participants must be final year students in the following higher institutions: University of Nigeria, Nsukka; The Federal Polytechnic, Kaduna; The Federal Polytechnic, Ibadan; Nigeria Institute of Journalism, Lagos; University of Jos; University of Maiduguri and Federal Polytechnic, Auchi.

    According to NAWOJ president, Mrs Ifeyinwa Omowole, participants must write an essay of not more than 500 word long. Entry must be sent to: info@nawoj.com before/on September 15.

    Three winners will get N200,000 each and one year internship in media organisations.

  • The Nation/AfricanLiberty.org essay winners

    We are pleased to announce the winners of TheNation, AfricanLiberty.org Essay Contest, which is powered by the Network For a Free Society. Based on the review of the submitted essays, the highest score is 77 per cent, while the lowest score is 3 per cent.  The general assessment shows an increase in the knowledge and spread of liberty in Africa. The content of the essays presents an evidence of positive impact the sponsors are promoting in Africa.

    The grading of the essays was based on four key criteria:

    • Understanding and discussion of the issues: This is to assess the level of understanding of key liberty elements by the writer. This carried 50 marks.

    • Organisation and conformity, which carry 15 marks.

    • Grammar, structure and creativity shown by the writer. This attracted 15 marks.

    • Originality: This assessed the use of other people’s works and idea, and whether the writers appropriately credited the source(s) of used intellectual materials. This attracted 20 marks.

    The details of the results are recorded below:

    PRIZES

    1st – Adeloye Olanrewaju Samuel, Department of Physiology, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso, Oyo State. George Ayittey (Platinum) Prize: $1,000 and full scholarship to 2014 Students and Young Professional African Liberty Academy (SYPALA) at the University of Cape Town Graduate Business School, South Africa from September 4 – 7, 2014. :

    2nd – Gracious Odala Balamu, Majoring Philosophy, Chancellor College University of Malawi. Anthony Fisher (Gold) Prize: $700 and full scholarship to 2014 Students and Young Professional African Liberty Academy (SYPALA) at the University of Cape Town Graduate Business School, South Africa, from September 4 – 7, 2014.

    3rd – Olusegun Omoleye, Medicine and Surgery, University of Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria. Derenle Edun (Silver) Prize: $500 and full scholarship to 2014 Students and Young Professional African Liberty Academy (SYPALA) at the University of Cape Town Graduate Business School, South Africa from September 4 – 7, 2014

    4th – Shittu Oluwakemi Adeola, Department of Biology, Adeyemi College of Education, Ondo State; Uzuazor Precious Aghogho, Chemical Engineering, University of Benin, Edo State and Afolayan Monisola Ayowumi, Agricultural Extension and Rural Development, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife. The Nation newspaper Media (Bronze) Prize: 70 per cent scholarship to 2014 Students and Young Professional African Liberty Academy (SYPALA) at the University of Cape Town Graduate Business School, South Africa from September 4 – 7, 2014.

    Other Consolation Prizes: 50 per cent scholarship to 2014 Students and Young Professional African Liberty Academy (SYPALA) at the University of Cape Town Graduate Business School in South Africa goes to:

    5th – Oloyede Deborah, Economics, University of Ibadan, Oyo State

    6th – Yohana Gadaffi Ouma, School of Law Parklands Campus, University of Nairobi, Kenya

    6th – Francis Wambugu Komu, Mathematics and Computer Science, The Catholic University of Eastern Africa, Kenya

    7th – Balogun Rilwan Opeyemi, Civil Law, Ahmadu Bello University, Kaduna, Nigeria