Akwa Ibom girl who clinched third position in the UBA Foundation National Essay 2017 has attributed her feat in the competition to God Almighty, parents and English Language teachers.
The 15-year-old Yah-ofon Ettah Essien, who is an SS11 student of Nigerian Christian Institute, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, carted home N500,000 education grant and a laptop.
Miss Essien, tall, stoutly built and fair-skinned hails from Adadia in Uruan Local Government Area. She competed with more than 1,000 students from different secondary schools in the country. After the preliminary stage, she made the list of the 12 finalists in the grand-finale ceremony held on November 22 in Lagos.
Her final topic in the competition was: “If you have unlimited resources, what will do to change the world? Why will you do it and how will you do it?” She did justice to the topic.
According to her, “The topic did not give me tough time. My father who is an economist motivates me a lot. He has been sharing his thoughts with me on Economics. I usually grab such sharp ideas. When I entered the hall and came across the topic, I poured out the ideas on economic realities. The effort paid off. And God granted me success.”
The brilliant girl who was not intimidated by the high number of students and secondary schools that participated in the competition was excited after winning it. “I want students to read harder, aim higher and strive to be on top of any human endeavor no matter the circumstance of life. More importantly, I want them to put God first in whatever they undertake,” she admonished.
Mrs. Mfon Mkpong Nze, principal of Nigerian Christian Institute, Uyo, congratulated the student on her accomplishment, and attributed the success to outstanding teachers who are diligent always ready to go above call of duty.
Mrs. Nze applauded the school for instilling a culture of excellence wherein everyone is working towards achieving excellence and for encouraging zero-tolerance for all forms of examination malpractice.
She advised parents to encourage their children to work on their personal development skills, and enjoined the students to work harder and shun all forms of cheating in the examinations.
Mr. Asuquo Offiong, the PTA Chairman of the school, described the success as great, noting “It shows the standard of academic commitment by both NCI management and teachers. I am proud to associate with this academic community based on a series of academic excellence.”
Michael Bassey, Head of English Department in NCI, extolled the student as aserious and brillaiant gril who was prepared for the competition following the English curriculum and imbued with the ability to speak, write and apply grammatical rules.
Bassey who was elated on her success, describing English Language teachers in the school as one of the best and knowledgeable persons because they could tackle any WAEC questions in English Language with ease.
“I want to say kudos to parents and guardians who encourage their children and wards to read harder and aim higher. I want our students to go and shine. NCI has given you the needed platform. Do not relax. Be daring in any endeavor,” he enjoined.
At the grand-finale of the competition, Samuella Sam-orlu of British Nigerian Academy, Abuja took first position and went home with N1 million, a laptop and scholarship in any African university while Deborah Chinwendu Innocent of Enal International Schools, Abuja who won second position was awarded N750,000 and a laptop.
