Winners of the Annual Mgbanghe Essay Writing Competition were on Friday, 28 December 2018, handed about N370,000.00 as prizes for their winning entries in the 2017 edition of the competition.
Although the third edition of the competition ran from November to December 2017, prizes could not be awarded to the winners immediately due an atmosphere of violent attacks around Numan and its environs that prevailed at the time.
At a special awards ceremony held at Mope Hotel in Numan, Adamawa State, Mr Christopher Cyril; Miss Salama Livinus and Miss Lovita Thomas who won in the Tertiary School Category were presented certificates and cash prizes of ₦100,000.00, ₦70,000.00 and ₦50,000.00, respectively.
Master Sylvester Pwadukudo, Master Marcel Kulilasimi Daura and Miss Pwapiyadi A. Jacob were also took home certificates and cash prizes of ₦70,000.00, ₦30,000.00 and ₦50,000.00, respectively, for their winning essays in the Secondary School Category.
The Mgbanghe Essay Awards Ceremony senior of senior government officials, academics, politicians and other distinguished personalities who wanted to identify with Mgbanghe’s effort to encourage debate and scholarship among the youth.
While welcoming guests to the event, the President of Mgbange, Mr Emmanuel Maluba restated the organisation’s commitment to giving young people the opportunity to make their voices heard, to engage with topical issues that are important to them and to freely express their aspirations for the future.
Guest Speaker at the event, Dr Agoso Huladeino Bamaiyi, spoke on the importance of community service reminded the gathering that having been failed by successive governments in the past, Nigerian youth must take on the challenge of developing their communities by volunteering their talent and expertise.
“As individuals and communities, we do not need to wait on government to come and improve our society,” Dr Bamaiyi said. “We can begin to improve our world right this moment by stepping out and doing the little we can. Our communities must begin to organize themselves and pool resources to improve their lot. Together, we can make this world a better place.”
Dr Patrick Bleambo, a former Director of the School of Remedial & Foundation Studies at the Adamawa State University, Mubi, expressed delight with the success of the essay competition and encouraged other eligible students to participate in future instalments of the competition.
He made some recommendations for encouraging participation and improving future awards ceremony.
TERTIARY CATEGORY
| 1. | Christopher Cyril – 1st Prize | Agriculture is not the answer to Nigeria’s economic challenges, do you agree? |  |
| 2. | Salama Livinus – 2nd Prize | The Government and economic policy Nigeria needs to put in place not to overtake India with the highest number of poor people in the world by February 2018 | |
| 3. | Lovita Thomas – 3rd Prize | Economic Inclusion or Increased access to Education, which should come first in Nigeria’s quest to empower its Youth population | |
SECONDARY CATEGORY
| 1. | Sylvester Pwadukudo – 1st Prize | What Adamawa State must do to produce the next Mark Zuckerberg | |
| 2. | Marcel Kulilasimi Daura – 2nd Prize | Why Nigeria’s next president should be less than 50 years | |
| 3. | Jacob Pwapiyadi – 3rd Prize | Why Nigerian Government must commit more resources to educate the girl-child | |
* Adobe PDF Reader is required to view the essays
