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As part of the activities to mark the 2019 Independence Day on October 1, Oyo State Government through the Ministry of Youth and Sports and the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, on Thursday organised a one day essay competition for primary and secondary school pupils across the state.
The essay competition which had the theme, “Nigeria and the challenges of insecurity in the 21st century” was held in Ibadan.
Some of the selected primary and secondary schools that participated in the competition are L.A primary School, Isale Oyo; Rehoboth Nursery & Primary School; Community Primary School, Sasa; Queen of Apostle, Ibadan; Igboora High School, Igbo Ora; Cornerstone Model College and The Pacesetter comprehensive College, Oluyole, Ibadan amongst others.
In a remark, the Commissioner for Youth and Sports, Seun Fakorede, commended the students for their impressive performance and urged them to always give their best during academic exercises, noting that there is better opportunity for them in the future.
He urged the students to strive hard to attain greater heights in the future.
Fakorede also thanked the teachers who he said had invested so much in the future of the students.
His words: “It is a thing of joy that we can still have pupils from our public schools performing so excellently at external academic exercise like this, It shows that the investment of this current administration on education is yielding good result.
“I want to urge you to keep up the good work our teachers are helping you to do and put all your efforts at achieving excellence in all you do; look at me as a model, it shows that the future really belongs to we young ones.”
Speaking, the Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Professor Kehinde Shangodoyin, represented by the Deputy Director in the ministry, Mrs Bisi Abiodun, admonished the students to imbibe the spirit of love for one another as well as humanity, saying God created each one being to impact positively on humanity.
At the end of the exercise, L.A Primary School, Isale Oyo took the first position in the primary school category while Pacesetter Comprehensive College took the first position in the Secondary school category.