2024 Carnival Calabar Sponsor Honours Creativity, Awards Top Essayists

Top essayists at the 2024 edition of the Carnival Calabar Essay Competition have received awards and accolades for their outstanding performance.

The sponsor of this year’s edition, the Iyaloja General of Nigeria, Mrs. Folashade Tinubu Ojo doled out cash and other prices to the deserving students at a ceremony in Calabar, the capital of Cross River State, southern Nigeria.

The contest now christened Folashade Tinubu Ojo Carnival Calabar Essay Competition presented the first place award to Master David Okon Offiong, a student of Police Secondary School, Calabar.

In the short stories category, which was opened to students of tertiary institutions, Awhobiwom Lucy Betiang, a student of the Pharmaceutical Department at the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, clinched first prize.

Although the participants were expected to write on the theme of the 2024 Carnival Calabar ‘Our shared prosperity “, the organizers had two categories for the contest and these were essay writing targeted at secondary school children, while the short stories category was basically for students of higher institutions.

In a remark, the chairman of the Cross River State Carnival Commission, Mr. Gabe Onah said that the competition was an initiative and a “deliberate effort to promote literacy, develop young talents and revive the declining reading and writing culture among the youths.”

“Writing essays allows individuals to explore and absorb different perspectives, fostering critical thinking and acceptance or rejection of ideas based on reasoned premises,” he said.

Youth Empowerment

In her keynote speech, the sponsor of the competition, Mrs. Folashade Ojo expressed satisfaction with the performance of the students, who emerged winners of the different categories, applauding the commission of taking steps to inculcate positive societal values in children.

Ojo, who acknowledged the benefit of technology to early child development, urged parents, guardians and teachers to be actively involved in assisting their children and wards imbibe and uphold good cultural ethics.

Ojo stated, “I am committed to supporting and sponsoring initiatives like this. Bringing back the love for reading and writing is a critical step in safeguarding our communities and building a vibrant, sustainable, and inclusive future for young Nigerians.”

Continuing, she said, “as parents there is need to be deliberate in our attempt to inculcate in the children the rich culture of Nigeria and Africa, helping them imbibe useful norms, values and habits.

“A competition of this nature is empowering the children and youths. We must encourage good reading culture and writing skills in our children. This competition is to build our social infrastructure as well as explore innovative solutions for the future, which requires the collective effort of all,” she stressed.

Celebrating Literacy and Culture

Earlier, the Executive Secretary of the Carnival Commission, Mr. Austin Cobham appreciated Mrs. Ojo as a passionate leader devoted to humanity and for her pivotal role in sustaining the Carnival’s literacy components.

Highpoint of the ceremony was the presentation of awards to the winners in various categories, while some secondary school children held the gathering spellbound with exciting and colourful displays.