Winners of the Mike Okonkwo Yearly Essay Competition for Nigerian Secondary Schools were honoured at the lecture, which held at Muson Centre, Onikan, Lagos.
The secondary school students were awarded the prizes after a lecture to commemorate the 79th birthday of Bishop Mike Okonkwo, the Presiding Bishop of The Redeemed Evangelical Mission (TREM).
The students include: Miss Flourish Olaoye of Christ the King International School, Gbagada, Lagos, who emerged winner with 73 per cent, and was honoured with a cheque of N500, 000, a trophy and a plaque, while her school was awarded a set of computers.
Nora Femi-Lawal of Chrisland High School, Lekki, who emerged first runner up with 64.5 per cent, received a cheque of N250, 000 and a plaque, while her school also received a complete set of computers.
For the second runner up, Miss Olayimika Durotimi of Corona Secondary School, Agbara, was awarded a cheque of N150, 000, a plaque, and a computer set for her school. The remaining four finalists received a consolation prize of N50, 000 each.
Officials of the three secondary schools were rewarded with computer sets for the outstanding performance of their students in the competition. Giving the Chief Examiner’s report, Prof. Akachi Ezeigbo of the University of Lagos (UNILAG), said the committee received 551 essays from secondary school students nationwide.
She disclosed that the feedback empowered them to weed out 341 essays that showed direct evidence of infractions. She noted that only seven participants who got the 50 per cent threshold were invited for the second round, where they engaged in writing essays.
Ezeigbo said: “The three winners thought about the issues involved in the topics within the mental orbit of their age. They expressed their thoughts in the way that exceptional students of their age and class would do. Their mastery of English language structures marks them out as meticulous people with huge potential. We congratulate them and the other finalists and wish them the very best in their future endeavours.”
She, however, cautioned the students over their dependence on Al apps like ChatGPT, Google Assistant, Gemini and other online commercial writers for generating essays to win competition, noting that this would have negative effects on knowledge production.
Thanking Bishop Okonkwo for giving them the opportunity to be part of talent development of young people, Ezeigbo said the seven students are a glimmer of hope despite the course that scientific advancement is taking at this time.
“They are the ones who, through original thinking, generate the content on which technology leeches. We must, therefore, encourage them, as the cleric is doing to sharpen their thinking and critical skills, by acknowledging their contributions and rewarding their efforts.”
