Lagos, Nigeria; 24th July 2015:
Determined to further inspire Nigerian children towards academic excellence and promote quality education in Nigeria, Lafarge Africa Plc. in partnership with Ovie Brume Foundation has commenced the 2nd edition of Lafarge-Ovie Brume Literacy Competition.The competition is organized yearly to promote literacy skills across primary school pupils in the country and to 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 reiterated that, the Vision of Ovie Brume Foundation is “a society everyone is educated and empowered” by so doing creating an enabling environments for young people by mobilizing and dedicating resources for the provision of formal and informal education, secured livelihood, social and policy brokerage thereby enabling them 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.
According to the organizers, the 2015 edition of the literacy education will begin with the first regional phase in Port Harcourt on the 29th of July, and the train will thereafter, move 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 16th of September, South-West regional phases before the grand finale in Lagos.
Speaking on the Literacy Education initiative, Group MD/CEO, Lafarge Africa Plc, Peter Hoddinott said the company remains committed to promoting academic excellence among pupils in primary schools across the country and creating opportunities for them to sharpen their literacy skill and build their self-confidence in line with its Corporate Social Responsibility. “Education is the bedrock of development of any country and the gateway to success in life. This is why Lafarge Africa is keen about creating opportunities and platforms where Nigerian children will be given the needed support to help them realize the potentials in them and achieve excellence. We recorded remarkable success from the first edition and testimonials abound. More importantly, its impact on pupils and on the development of education in Nigeria is gradually growing” he noted.
The Lafarge-Ovie Brume Literacy Competition features Literacy tests, Essay/Summary writing and Spelling Bees to evaluate reading and writing abilities. It is one of the CSR initiatives powered by employees of Lafarge Africa in partnership with the Ovie Brume Foundation, a non-governmental organization focused on youth education and empowerment.
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. 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 finale held in Lagos, with winners from these regions competing for the overall first place.
