Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has restated commitment in promoting intellectual competition amongst secondary school students.
The president of LCCI, Dr. Michael Olawale-Cole stated this at the grand finale of the 2023 secondary schools essay competition and prize-giving ceremony held in Lagos.
The 2023 Secondary School Essay is the seventh edition and has grown over the years to be one of the biggest in the country with participation from both public and private secondary schools in Lagos, Ogun and Oyo States.
This year’s competition with the theme ‘Diversification of the Nigerian Economy: The Way Forward’ received over 300 entries from about 150 secondary schools.
The top three winners are: Chimezeh Ebere from Advanced Breed Comprehensive College; Ogunloye Oluwaseun from DANSOL High School; and Afikunooreoluwa Ogunlolu from DANSOL high school.
Speaking at the event, Olawale-Cole said that “given Nigeria’s economic situation, diversification must be examined from three perspectives, in terms of production; government revenue; and export.”
He added that “given the data and analysis with respect to GDP, government revenue and export, it is critical to focus our diversification policies on export while expanding government revenue sources. For this reason, this essay competition is crucial in addressing some of the challenges currently facing our country.”
LCCI president applauded the examiners of the essay competition led by the vice chancellor, Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB) as well as the Organised Private Sector (OPS), to achieve the results received.
Group head, Education Finance at Sterling Bank, Ndjideka Nwabueze, said “Sterling as an impact driven organisation is committed to enriching lives by empowering the community and creating value through various initiatives focused on our HEART Sector which comprises (Health, Education, Agriculture, Renewable Energy & Transportation.”
