Entries for the 19th Mike Okonkwo National Essay Competition for secondary school students in Nigeria will open on April 8. The topic for this year’s competition is “Nigeria’s pathways: Diagnosis and prescriptions.”
Entry requirements include an essay of a maximum of 2000 words, a passport photograph of the student, full name, address, contact telephone number, class, school as well as name and telephone contact of the principal. All essays are expected to be submitted in word format through email to essay@trem.org
In a statement by the Corporate Services Director, Oluwayomi Uteh, the star winner would go home with N500,000 cash, trophy and plaque, while the school gets a desktop computer. The first runner-up gets a cash prize of N250,000 with a plaque, and the school will equally get a desktop computer. The second runner-up gets an N100,000 cash prize and a plaque, while the school gets a desktop computer.
The competition is one of Okonkwo’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities aimed at raising the nation’s education standard and also sensitising students by making them analytically minded to excel in their world by developing their ability to think through issues.
It is also part of activities lined up to mark the 79th birthday of Okonkwo, who is the Presiding Bishop of The Redeemed Evangelical Mission (TREM).
Over the years, the competition has helped shape the thought pattern of students to develop problem-solving skills.
The competition spans over a decade of developing and rewarding the writing skills of Nigerian youths towards national development.
Prizes for this year’s competition will be presented to winners at the 23rd Mike Okonkwo yearly lecture, which has been scheduled for September 5, at the Music Society of Nigeria (MUSON) Centre, Onikan, Lagos.
Okonkwo’s desire to show the love of God to humanity, gave back to the foundation, a non-governmental organisation committed to alleviating the plight of the less-privileged in society through donations to hospitals, establishment of free vocational centres, running free preparatory school for students in secondary schools and facilitating regular public enlightenment campaigns on health issues, among others.
To contribute his quota to national development, He also started the Mike Okonkwo yearly lecture in 2000, which has grown to become a major contributor to government policies as it brings together seasoned men and women to discuss burning national issues.
Also, to encourage the writing skills of children in secondary schools and help them become solution providers to the nation, the Mike Okonkwo Essay Competition was born.
