Organisers of the Education Championship League (ECL) for secondary schools in Port Harcourt have announced plans to expand the competition to the entire Rivers State.
This follows the success of the competition which was concluded at the weekend in Port Harcourt with only schools within the state capital metropolis participating.
In the finals, Government Girls Secondary School, Abuloma, emerged overall winners among the four finalists going home with N10 million. They defeated Seacrest Preparatory School, Aladumo, International School and Enitona High School which placed second, third and fourth with prizes of N5 million for second position, N2.5 million for third and N1.5 million for the fourth-placed schools respectively.
Speaking at the event, one of the organisers, Wenenda Wali said that the success of the maiden edition of the programme had made the organisers to decide on expanding on competition to accommodate more schools
“We will expand to ensure that more schools participate,” he said, calling on graduates from different schools in the state to encourage their alma maters to register in next edition which will likely open by the first quarter of 2025.”
He decried situations where individuals and corporate organisations devote, so much money to less beneficial causes, just as he called for more support to the competition because of its benefits to the society.
One of the sponsors of the competition, Chief Dumo Lulu-Briggs, stressed the imperatives of quality education to grow the next generation of leaders in Rivers state, in particular and Nigeria in general.
Lulu-Briggs said educating the next generation of leaders should be the paramount responsibility of government and all concerned persons for a better society.
He said there was need for a secured future for the state and nation through qualitative educational system.
While noting that getting quality education is now expensive, Lulu-Briggs said the situation has widened the gap between the rich and the poor, calling on well-meaning individuals to support the government in that direction.
“We all must rise up to the pressing challenge of providing quality education for all.
“Our government must be supported, encouraged to succeed and to build in each and every one of us, that sense of a common future because all of us desire the same thing in life,” he stated.
While congratulating the winners in the competition, Lulu-Briggs regretted that premium was no longer placed on things that impact most on the society.
He pledged to support the competition and expand it to local communities, saying; “We must encourage this competition because we don’t see any reason why the Big Brother shows will have so much prizes, and intellectual competition like this don’t get as much attention.”
On his part, a former Executive Vice President, Upstream, Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited of NNPCL and co-sponsor of the competition, Adokiye Tombomieye, said the competition has the capacity to groom future leaders for the state and country.
He charged guests at the event to give back to their alma mater by sponsoring academic activities there and also encouraging them to be part of the Port Harcourt Education Champions League.
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