Winners Emerge in the 6th Annual World Environment Day Essay Writing Competition

For the second year running in the United Nation’s global campaign on #GenerationRestoration we welcomed entries from junior secondary school pupils in Delta State, Nigeria who took part in our 6^th Annual World Environment Day Essay Writing Competition. This annual competition underscores one of our core values of promoting a sustainable environment and it has continued to gain popularity by encouraging young people to explore and take responsibility as they proffer ways to address the environmental challenges faced in their communities and beyond.

The topic for this year, “The Importance of Individual Choice and Self-Control in Safeguarding the Nigerian Ecosystem” was no different as it availed many young Nigerians the opportunity to express their ingenious ideas on ways to promote a safer world for all to live in. We want to use this medium to laud the students who submitted entries expressing many creative ideas and suggestions on ways to tackle Nigeria’s environmental challenges.

Special thanks go to our indefatigable panel of judges who in spite of their tight schedule worked round the clock to ensure that each of the entries was objectively assessed. On this note we would like to observe that as in previous years, plagiarism was detected on a large scale during the assessment period leading to the immediate disqualification of some entries. We continue to encourage teachers to enlighten their students on the proper ways to use and reference ideas derived from published works as originality is a key performance criterion in our essay competition.

In selecting the eventual winners, our judges painstakingly identified entries that demonstrated creativity, hard work and originality. Consequently, the following students emerged as winners of Omafuru Foundation’s 6^th Annual Essay Writing Competition:

1st Position –               Okodugha E. Victor-Mary             (Nana Model College, Warri)

2nd Position –              Chiemeke Joshua Tochukwu       (Federal Government College, Warri)

3rd Position –               Ezimadu Emmanuella                    (College of Edu. Demonstration Sec. Sch, Warri)

In her winning entry, Victor-Marydecried the level of negligence occasioned by human activities that hinder the process of protecting Nigeria’s ecosystem. She strongly advocates volunteering for cleanups in the society and putting an end to improper disposal of refuse and sewage. Victor-Mary also stressed that obeying the laws of nature is the surest path to ensuring the Nigerian ecosystem is fit and conducive for all living organisms.

For Joshua who won second-place, the poor state of Nigeria’s ecosystem can be linked to the negative and harmful choices made by citizens over the years. To protect our environment from further degradation, he recommends that individuals rise up to the challenge and actively discourage harmful activities like deforestation and indiscriminate bush burning.

The third-place winner, Emmanuella, expressed a similar view suggesting that the best approach to resolve the pollution of land and water bodies is to recycle and reuse valuable waste materials. She notes that because “the ecosystem is where all that is living are making their living” every individual must adopt measures to safeguard it.

A few other entries were adjudged to be outstanding and thus our judges recommended the following students for consolation prize awards:

Efayena Michael O.                                      –          DSC Technical High School, Orhuwhorun

Okeke Jennifer                                              –          Jenny Secondary School, Ekete

Efemini Praise                                               –          Nana Model College, Warri

Sanikoro Efeoghene O. Rebecca                –          DSC Technical High School, Orhuwhorun

Arogbo-John Tayo                                        –          Jenny Secondary School, Ekete

We would like to thank all 100 students from across Delta State that submitted entries for this year’s edition of our World Environment Day Essay Writing Competition. We encourage them to continue being agents of positive environmental change in their communities by influencing others to make the right choices and protect the environment.

Our special thanks go to the school principals and teachers of all the schools that took part in the competition this year for giving their students the necessary support. We look forward to an even greater turnout next year and remind them of the need to ensure their students are familiar with all the entry guidelines for this essay competition.

Prizes will be presented to winners at their respective schools on the day agreed with the school management.

Congratulations to our deserving winners!