Standard Bearers Islamic Organisation, SBIO, Ile-Ife Chapter has announced the names of participants who qualified at the preliminary stage of The Iqraa Challenge.
The qualified participants, numbering five (5) will slug it out between themselves for a winner to emerge by April 10, Muslim News gathered.
The Iqra Challenge, which was declared opened on January 20, 2021, targets students in Higher Institutions and Madrasahs (Islamic schools), specifically in three southwest states; Osun, Ondo and Ekiti, in the overall interest of rewarding excellence, intelligence, creativity and knowledge about Islam.
Commenting on the contest, the Programmes Coordinator, Mr Luqman Isa said 46 students from across 17 higher institutions across the country applied for the challenge.
According to him, entries were initially only expected from students of higher institutions within the catchment states of the organizers, interest shown by participants across different geopolitical zones of the country, especially the Northern part made the organizers decide to assess all applications for this maiden edition.
He explained further that while some candidates submitted the 3 assignments given in the challenge, some others did not submit all given assignments which reduced their marks.
Mr Isa therefore commended all participants for their efforts in the contest, noting they have done well.
Muslim News learnt that “adherence to the structure of the article as given by the organizers; writing within the required words limitation; relevance and originality of the overall content; Islamic content of the article/referencing sources used; and judges’ discretion (evaluation concordance, flow, syntax and grammar) formed the criteria by which participants were evaluated in the preliminary stage.
A list released by the organisers revealed the following participants were shortlisted for the final stage:
1) Tiamiyyu Shakirah Ajoke – Ekiti State University, Education, 100 Level
2) Yunus Najmudden – Federal University Oye- Ekiti, Linguistics, 400 Level
3) Mutohhir Olanrewaju Abdulhameed – Obafemi Awolowo University, Religious Studies, 400 Level
4) Fatima Toluwalope Ajiboye – Osun State University, Law, 200 Level
5) Aishah Muhammad Mustapha – Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria,
Geography, 400 Level