Miss Ike Destiny from VIK International School, Akere Alagbado in Ogun State and Master Alexander Chibuzor of Archbishop Heerey Technical College, Ogidi in Anambra State have emerged winners of the 2023 Mike Okonkwo national essay competition.
TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports Ike and Alexander emerged winners of the 2023 Mike Okonkwo national essay competition out of 795 essay entries received for the 18th edition of the Bishop Mike Okonkwo Essay Competition.
The essay competition is organised by the founder and presiding bishop of The Redeemed Evangelical Mission (TREM) for secondary school students in Nigeria.
Ike and Alexander emerged winners by clinching first and second positions, respectively.
According to the Chief examiner Prof. T. Akachi Ezeigbo, “Destiny and Alexander addressed the topic within the mental orbit of their age and demonstrated commendable passion and independent thinking in their writing.
“We congratulate and present them as exemplars of young people determined to forge their own path through critical use of easy ways”.
In addition, the chief examiner further disclosed: “we are constrained to present an overall winner and just one runner-up this year, against the normal practice of presenting one winner and two runners-up”.
Prof Ezeigbo added: “A considerable chunk of the entries we received was, as usual, unsuitable for consideration. They were either lifted directly from online sources and presented as original materials or were revised and presented as such.
“We are used to this practice among young people, and so spent considerable time tracking the essays on the internet in line with our quality control procedures”.
For their efforts, Miss Ike Destiny will be smiling home with a cheque of N500,000, a trophy, and a plaque, while her school gets a set of computer. For Master Chibuzor Alexander who came second, he will be going home with a cheque of N250,000, a plaque and his school will get a set of computer.
According to a statement by Rev. (Mrs.) Oluwayomi Uteh, Corporate Services Director, prices for the winners of the 18th Mike Okonkwo National Essay Competition for Secondary Schools in the country will be presented at this year’s Mike Okonkwo Annual Lecture.
The theme for this year’s Mike Okonkwo Annual Lecture, scheduled to hold at the Zenith Shell Hall Muson Center, Onikan, Lagos, on Thursday, September 7, 2023, is “Nigerianization of Nigerians: A Look Inward”.
TNG reports Mike Okonkwo National Essay Competition was initiated in the year 2004, as part of activities to celebrate the Birthday of the Presiding Bishop of TREM, Dr. Mike Okonkwo (MFR), and more importantly to contribute to the development of the Educational Sector.
Dr. Mike Okonkwo has continued in this gesture for 18 years, using his God-given talent, strength, and resources to be a blessing to the younger generation in the pursuit of academic excellence by encouraging them to cultivate the habit of reading and writing effectively. This man of God, who believes in the absolute development of mankind in all facets of life, has used the institutionalization of the Mike Okonkwo National Essay Competition to achieve this dream and desire.
The essay competition program has helped some students that participated in the program to develop more interest in research work, reading extensively, and writing constructively.
Apart from serving as a tool to encourage reading and writing, the competition has also given the students the opportunity to bare their minds on topical issues that are significant to the social-economic development of our nation.
The essay competition has also contributed to ICT development in secondary schools, especially in government-owned schools. Winners have emerged from both government-owned schools and private schools, and they have always been encouraged with gifts both in-kind and cash.
The Chief Sponsor and visionary of the program, Dr. Mike Okonkwo, is confident of the fact that Nigerian youths can compete favourably with their counterparts in developed nations.
