By Tare Youdeowei

River State which hosted the Lafarge and Ovie Brume Foundation literacy contest has also emerged first, beating other South-South regional competitors with 74 points. The competition, which is organized yearly to promote literacy skills across public primary school pupils in the country and to engage them in activities that will showcase their ability to read, write and spell correctly, was on Wednesday, July 29, 2015, held in Port Harcourt.

The South/South Regional Competition had in attendance schools from Rivers, Bayelsa, Edo, Cross River and Akwa Ibom States, but no representation from Delta State. This year’s competition which featured Literacy tests, Essay/Summary writing and spelling Bee, also produced Edo State in the 2nd position with 71 points, Akwa Ibom State, 3rd position with 40 points, while Bayelsa and Cross River State came 4th and 5th positions with 38 and 35 points respectively.

Explaining the competition’s schedule to newsmen, the event’s organizers said the first regional phase held in Port Harcourt on the 29th of July, would be followed by other geo-political zones as follows: 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 on the 29th of September, 2015.

Speaking on the initiative, the 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 (CSR).

“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.

According to Mrs. Iwalola Akin-Jimoh, the Executive Director of Ovie Brume Foundation, the Vision of Ovie Brume Foundation is “a society everyone is educated and empowered,” by so doing creating 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, and to maximize their positive energies with sufficient sense of responsibility to give back to their local communities and the country.

The Lafarge-Ovie Brume Literacy Competition featured Literacy tests, Essay/Summary writing and Spelling Bees to evaluate reading and writing abilities, and as explained by the General Manager of Lafarge, represented by Mr. Hycient Bakel, 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.

Expressing joy with the prizes given to them and the transparent manner the 2015 edition of the Literacy Competitions was being organized, Prince Mfon and Elizabeth Dibiah of State School II Alesa, Eleme, who represented Rivers State in the Lafarge Literacy Competition, lauded the company for such a lofty initiative and called on other corporate organizations to emulate such gesture.

The pupils also noted that they have been encouraged to study hard with such competitions in place, thanking their school authorities and teachers for the opportunity given to them to participate in the competition. The Lafarge Literacy competition train moves on to the Federal Capital Territory Abuja on the 19th of August. The competition is being organized with the support of the State Universal Basic Education Boards in each location.