Lagos NGO Awards Scholarship To Public School Student

A primary six pupil of Sanya Nursery and Primary School, Aguda, Enora Onasanya, has won a fully-funded six-year scholarship to a private secondary school in Lagos after emerging overall winner of the 14th Annual Quiz and Debate Competition organised by Total Child Educational Foundation.

The scholarship package, which includes tuition, books, stationery materials and a school bag, is worth millions of naira and is aimed at giving outstanding pupils from public primary schools access to quality secondary education.

At the event, the executive vice chairman of the foundation, Dr Bankole Sadipe, said the initiative was designed to discover academically gifted children in underserved communities and provide them with opportunities that could transform their lives.

According to him, the foundation has sponsored more than 15 pupils through secondary school over the past 14 years, with its first scholarship beneficiary now studying Medicine at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. “Our very first winner has completed secondary school and is almost finishing university.

He is studying Medicine. That shows the enduring value of this initiative,” Sadipe said.

He added that while the annual competition costs about N1 million to organise, the six-year scholarship awarded to the overall winner represents the foundation’s biggest financial commitment, running into several million naira.

“The competition itself may cost about a million naira, but that is not the main issue. The real financial outlay is the six-year scholarship in a private school in Lagos, which runs into many millions of naira,” he said.

The competition brought together Primary Six pupils from public schools in Aguda Local Government Education Authority and four Police Children Schools across Lagos State.

A total of 15 schools participated in the contest, which tested pupils in General Knowledge, Mathematics, English Language, Spelling, Public Speaking, Critical Thinking and Problem Solving through quiz rounds, debate sessions and impromptu speeches.

The first runner-up, Victoria Musa of Police Children School, Ikeja, received N75,000, books, stationery materials and a school bag. In contrast, the second runner-up, Tochukwu Prince, received N50,000 and similar educational materials. All participating pupils also received consolation prizes.

Reacting to her victory, Onasanya said that winning the scholarship had fulfilled a long-held ambition and would ease the financial burden on her parents.

“I feel very happy because it has always been my dream to win this scholarship. Now my parents will be happy, my family will be happy, and my mum will not have to go through so much stress,” she said.