A Nigeria-based NGO, Help Initiative for Social Justice and Humanitarian Development held a Spelling Bee competition and career orientation workshop for children across 8 schools in Ibadan, Nigeria. The event, held on September 30, 2023 at the American corner Jericho Ibadan as a commemoration of Nigeria’s 63rd anniversary had about sixty five participants in attendance, including pupils, educators, parents, civil society organizations and other professionals.
The project coordinator and child development officer of Help Initiative, Mr. Adedayo Ige, in his welcome address said that the programme was not only a commemoration of the 63rd anniversary of Nigeria’s Independence, but also a reminder to political leaders in Nigeria to keep the consciousness that education is a foundational asset to any society, and children are a pivotal part of the future we are building.
Setting the tone for the event was a drama presentation by the Impact Drama Group, a children group passing impactful messages using drama and a spoken word poem rendition, titled ‘’What Binds me to Her’’ by Esther Adeyemo from Unicorn Cosmopolitan College and Esther Solomon from Edupride Model College.
During the career orientation session, Dr. Timothy Heritage, a dental health practitioner of the University College Hospital (UCH) Ibadan, charged the pupils to cultivate empathy and care as prerequisite for studying medicine or any medical course, as that is a pathway towards saving lives. He further demonstrated to the children how to practice an effective personal oral hygiene, using dental toolkits and simple demonstration.
On her part, former chairperson of the International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA), Barr. Deborah Collins, in a demonstrative presentation on Law as a career emphasized the need for an inquisitive mind, assertiveness and courage as useful qualities for the children who wish to follow a career path in Law. She went further to encourage the children to study and cultivate the habit of reading for any career they might want to undertake.
The moderator of the event, Barr. Fola Awoyemi called on parents, educators and government to provide solid foundations for our children, as a means of nurturing a wholesome generation of brilliant minds who can lead our society to a desirable destination.
The Spelling Bee competition moderated by the trio of Mr. Aderinto, the pronouncer, Anthonia Fada and Mr. Daniel, featured five different primary schools in Oyo state: pupils from school, Alpha Kids School, Edupride Model School, Tekhols School, Prime Rose Academy, Unicorn Cosmopolitan College and Kiddies Arena Academy all performed brilliantly and demonstrated excellence. By the end of the 4th round of the competition, Prime Rose Academy emerged in first place, with Tekhols school emerging first runner up in a keenly contested final round. Kiddies Arena Academic school, Edupride Models and Alpha Kids Academy emerged second, third and fourth runner-up respectively.
In her closing remarks, the founder and team lead of Help Initiative, Barr. Aderonke Ige who joined from the United Kingdom said it was a delightful undertaking for Help initiative to be able to engage children in wholesome activities as a meaningful way of marking Nigeria’s independence. She encouraged the children to imbibe a spirit of healthy competition and curious learning as ways to improve themselves and be instrumental to the development of society.
The event was rounded-off with closing prayers by Barr. Bunmi Eyelade of Help Initiative and the children were delighted about the event as they departed the venue.
