By PRISCA SAM-DURU

Anyone who is in doubt of how much children know about the state of the nation should watch out for the final exhibition of the 2016 Vision of the Child Visual arts and literary competition in May. The finalists, numbering 50 during their presentation to the public last week at the Freedom Park, Lagos, showed Lagosians a glimpse of what to expect in the grand finale.

Few of the finalists of the 2016 edition of the annual Vision of the Child  (VOTC) who emerged from a three day intensive auditioning held also at Freedom Park, Lagos, were called upon to express their Sisi-Eko experience and they chose mostly the spoken word as a tool. They wowed the audience with their impressive performances, revealing the dept of their talents and knowledge about their communities.

Out of a total of 500 students drawn from both Public and Private schools in both primary and secondary, from different parts of Lagos State, 50 made it to the finals, thereby corresponding with the golden jubilee of the state. Themed “Sisi-Eko @ 50: Ageing Gracefully? Or Na So So Pancake?” This year’s is dedicated to the celebration of the golden jubilee of Lagos. The age bracket for the participants is 8-12.

The journey began with the registration and submission of a poem, essay or short story of fixed length on the theme through the schools. Unveiling the finalists , Convener Vision of the child project and Chairman Lagos at 50 committee, Professor Wole Soyinka said the project will provide the children with a balanced view of what Lagos stands for.

VoTC Project Director, Foluke George disclosed that the finalists will assemble for the main competition – Kiddies @ Work on Friday May 13, 2016 at the Federal Palace Hotel Lagos where they will be provided with work tools such as paint, brush, easel with which they are required to illustrate their literary presentation in the complementary medium of painting.

“Interestingly, VOTC has evolved from the single disciplinary contest to a binary affair namely, Visual Arts and the literary. This provides an interactive challenge designed to stretch youthful imagination and skills across genres. One of the key elements of VOTC is to hear voices of the youth and children and equip them to lead change. The project provides participating children the platform to express their understanding of the world they live, their vision of what it should be, their dreams and fantasies through painting and the three literary genres.

The exhibition of Sisi-Eko@50 will be declared open on May 27 shortly before the award/gala night. This according to the organisers is to strategically coincide with the World Children Day. The works from the VOTC competition will subsequently be exhibited at different locations for a period of one year.

As a further incentive, unlike previous years in which the prizes were awarded on the aggregate of the two creative media, there will be three prizes in all; prize in painting, literary and the prime prize which goes to the combined product of the pupil’s dexterity in both painting and literature.” VOTC enjoys the collaboration of Diamond Bank Plc and Lagos State Government and Honey Well Flour Mills.