Lagos, Nigeria; 4th November 2015:
Determined to showcase the ability of an average Nigerian child towards academic excellence and promote quality education in Nigeria, Ovie Brume Foundation in partnership with Lafarge Africa Plc. will hold the Grand Finale of the 2nd edition of Lafarge-Ovie Brume Literacy Competition.
The competition, which is organized yearly to promote literacy skills among public primary school pupils in the country and engage them in activities that will showcase their ability to read, write and spell correctly.
According to Mrs. Iwalola Akin-Jimoh the Executive Director of Ovie Brume Foundation, the Literacy competition is one of the avenues been employed by the Foundation to achieve her vision which is “a society where everyone is educated and empowered”. The Foundation creates an enabling environment for young people by mobilizing and dedicating resources for the provision of social brokerage services and information in the areas of formal and informal education, sports for development, secured livelihood, leadership and life skills, and, art, craft, dance and music. The resultant effects of the aforementioned interventions support the beneficiaries to set and achieve their goals, maximize their positive energies with sufficient sense of responsibility to give back to their local communities and the country.
The 2015 edition of the literacy competition began with the first regional phase in Port Harcourt on the 29th of July, and the competition, moved on to other geo-political zones of the South-East (30th of July), North –East (8th of August), North-Central (12th of August), North-West (15th of August) and South-West (16th of September), before the grand finale in Lagos which comes up on the 11th of November, 2015 at the Civic Centre Ozumba Mbadiwe Street, Victoria Island Lagos State Nigeria, by 11.00am Prompt.
Speaking on the initiative, the Group MD/CEO, Lafarge Africa Plc, Peter Hoddinott said in line with its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), the company remains committed to promoting academic excellence among pupils in public primary schools across the country and creating opportunities for them to sharpen their literacy skill and self-confidence. “Education is the bedrock of development of any country and the gateway to success in life. This is why Ovie Brume Foundation is giving a voice to the average child in public school around the country, creating opportunities and platforms where they are given the needed support to help them realize the potentials in them and achieve excellence.
According to the Project Manager Lois Ekeleme “the project has recorded remarkable success from the first edition and testimonials abound. More importantly, its impact on pupils and the development of education in Nigeria is gradually growing and the improvement is being felt”.
It would be recalled that last year, Akwa Ibom State emerged winners in the maiden edition of the literacy competition to win a “Kindle E-learning Tablet” as the grand prize. Gombe State hosted the first regional competition for the North East region, Ibadan for the South West region and Port Harcourt for the South-South region. The second edition unlike the 1st will host 12 contestants from Lagos, Enugu, Taraba, Kaduna, Kogi and Rivers States, the winners from the regional competitions.
