Master Ifeoluwa Ademuyiwa, winner of the maiden MTN Nigeria’s Lagos State Private Schools Spelling Bee competition, has called corporate bodies to emulate the company in sponsoring competitions in schools as a strategy to improve learning.
Ademuyiwa, 14, from Chrisfield College, Lagos, made the call at his unveiling as Nigeria’s first One Day Child Chief Executive Officer of MTN. According to him, many Nigerian children are endowed with intelligence but lacked funds for development.
He said that support for such children would secure their future. “I have been telling myself that I can become what I want, so I kept pushing, with prayers, support and motivation from my family and friends.
“They kept challenging me with spellings of new words as well as helping me to find words that they thought I could come across during the spelling competition. “Winning this competition is a stepping stone to higher grounds. “There is a lot for me to achieve as I will keep working harder. “I plan to study medicine in the university so as to save lives,” he said.
Ademuyiwa, whose father is late and mother, a seamstress, appealed to the state government to provide scholarship for him to enable him to realise his dreams and contribute to national development. Mrs Omotayo George, Senior Manager, Youth Segment, MTN Nigeria, said at the event that the Lagos State Private Schools Spelling Bee competition started few months ago.
According to her, MTN Nigeria partnered with the National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools in the state. “We started with inter school competition, which was tough, and winners from each of the schools moved to the district level. “From there, we had 31 students emerging at the finals, and from there, we had five top winners, out of which our MTN CEO emerged.
“This is the first-ever Lagos State Private Schools Spelling Bee competition. “Two years ago, MTN launched its team proposition, called MTN Mpulse, for primary and secondary school students of ages nine to 15. “Our partnership with Lagos State on this spelling bee is a way of deepening MTN’s involvement with the Nigerian youth, and we are proud to be involved as we also plan to spread,” she said. (NAN)
