At MyRainbowBooks National Creative Writing Competition Award Ceremony in Abuja

Keynote Address by Hon. Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu, represented by Mrs. Ariba, MoE

On May 26, 2016, education key-stakeholders, parents, pupils, and representatives of various schools from all over the country gathered in The Merit House, Maitama, for the award ceremony for the MyRainbowBooks 2015 National Creative Writing Competition for Children.

The well-attended event had
the Honourable Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu as the Keynote Speaker; the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Education, Dr. Shade Yemi-Esan, and the Executive Secretary of the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), Dr. Dikko Suleiman, as the Special Guests of Honour. Other special guests at the occasion included the President of the National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools, FCT, Hajiya Samira Jibir, and many school proprietors.

Mallam Adamu was represented by Mrs. Ariba from the Basic and Secondary Education department of the Federal Ministry of Education, while Dr. Yemi-Esan was represented by Mrs. Ajibike Sanni. Mr. Pius Osaghae, the director of Academic Services, UBEC, represented Dr. Dikko Suleiman at the occasion. The event had students and guests from Lagos State, Plateau State, Edo State, Cross River State, and other states in the federation.

The president/CEO of MyRainbowBooks, Mrs. Isang Awah, who gave the welcome address, stated that the competition aimed at developing children’s creative thinking and writing skills. In his keynote address, the Hon. Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu commended MyRainbowBooks for their ingenuity, resourcefulness in putting in place the competition which is geared towards building self-esteem, a reading culture, and establishing writing skills and creative thinking skills in Nigerian children. He urged other stake-holders to emulate the organizers of the MyRainbowBooks National Creative Writing Competition for Children, and also congratulated all the winners of the 2015 competition. The Hon. Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu also stated his belief that the epoch making event would harvest the likes of Prof. Wole Soyinka, Chimamanda Adichie, and Chinua Achebe who would do the country proud by winning Nobel prizes and becoming global icons.

The event also witnessed the public presentation of the MyRainbowBooks Children’s Collection (vol 2). The presentation was done by the Executive Secretary of the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), Dr. Dikko Suleiman, who was represented by Mr. Pius Osaghae, the director of Academic services at UBEC. Mr. Osaghae commended the MyRainbowBooks team for the excellent work done, and
encouraged them to keep up the good work. The MyRainbowBooks Children’s Collection is a compendium of the best entries for the MyRainbowBooks 2015 National Creative Writing Competition for Children, and has stories and poems written by children who are between 5 to 16 years old. The book which was available for sale at the venue of the ceremony, also has inspiring quotes and write-ups such as ‘Tips on how to write a winning story’.

Certificates of Achievement and gifts were presented to all the winners and ‘honourable mentions’ of the 2015 competition, while the top three winners in each of the three different categories of the competition, also got various cash prizes. In addition to the cash gifts, the first place winner in each category also received a laptop. Prizes were also awarded to schools that had sent in entries in the school category. The third place award in the school category went to Glisten International Academy, Abuja, while the second place award went to Regina Pacis College in Abuja. The first place award in the school category was won by Surefoot International School, Calabar, Cross River State. The 2015 competition was sponsored by the Education Gaps Linkage Initiative and Emerging Platform Groups, and supported by various organizations and companies including Reading House Africa, Marvelous Mike Press, Fenan Digital Prints ltd., Mattini Book Club, Hatlab Ice Cream Delite, All About Kids Ltd., and so on.

It was a very joyous occasion for children, their parents, schools and other guests at the occasion. In their remarks, various people expressed their excitement and joy, and spoke highly of the competition, commending the organizers. At the end of the ceremony, guests were given posters of the next round of competition which is billed to begin in July, 2016.