• Eva Adelaja, Skye-View schools, others win in Spelling Bee, Essay writing
Members of the Muslim Students’ Society of Nigeria in Lagos State on Saturday, May 27, joined millions of Nigerian youths to mark the 2023 Children’s Day with an educating, informative and scintillating programme tagged “Youth Conference.”
Muslim News gathered that the yearly event, an initiative of Muslim Students Society of Nigeria, MSSN, Lagos State Area Unit, was organsed by all the Area Councils in the State, with a unified theme, “The Leader’s Ship”.
Our Correspondent was at the newly built Chief P. O. Alabi Hall, Federal College of Education (Technical), Akoka, the venue of the Youth Conference of the Bariga Area Council, with over 20 schools, 300 students within Bariga, Oworonshoki, Obanikoro and environs in attendance.
They defied the early morning rain to grace the event which featured series of activities such as inter-school quiz and spelling competition, ewi (balad) recitation among others.
In his speech, the Ameer (President) of the Area Council, Mal. Ibidunni Sulayman, welcomed the elated students to the auspicious occasion to celebrate Nigerian children, saying that Children are valuable gifts from Allah whose rights are guaranteed in the Qur’an and Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).
“This is why the society deemed it fit to recognise Children’s Day in line with the United Nations’ 1989 convention on Children’s rights”, he noted.
According to him, This year’s Youth Conference theme is ‘The Leader’s Ship’ which emboldens the fact that children are the leaders of tomorrow and their parents, teachers and other stakeholders should make sure that their ships do not sink to ensure a brighter future for the Children.
While speaking on the theme from the Islamic perspective, Onilenla Hakeem, a student from Lanre Awolokun High School mentioned that young individuals, are the leaders of tomorrow and it is crucial that they understand the principles of leadership from an Islamic perspective, supported by evidence from the Qur’an and Hadith.
He highlighted several desirable qualities of a leader such as being a servant-leader, having integrity and being trustworthy among others.
Another student, Alli Hamdaan, from YPO Shodeinde Memorial School, who spoke from the academic perspective, reiterated that as students, before they become future leaders, some things should be done.
These include setting goals, being good examples, embracing new ideas and opportunities and lastly doing what is right and not what is easy.
How winners emerged in various categories
• Spelling Bee contest
Jimoh Hikmah, a junior secondary school student representing Eva Adelaja Girls’ Junior Grammar School, Bariga came first in the Spelling Bee contest after spelling the word “Aiguille” correctly.
Musa Nimotallahi and AbdulMannan Muhammad Bello from Muslim Junior College, Oworonshoki and Ad-Deen Comprehensive College, Akoka (Junior) came second and third positions respectively in the Spelling Bee contest finals.
The spelling bee became interesting and dramatic when a tie was to be broken between AbdManan from Ad-Deen Comprehensive High School and Danmole Rahmah of Ifako Junior Comprehensive High School for the third position.
AbdManan got the position by spelling the word “leprechaun” correctly after a lengthy tie-breaker.
The students representing YPO Shodeinde Memorial School, Bariga won the first position in the quiz competition after garnering 25 points ahead of FCET Secondary School, Akoka and Lanre Awolokun High School, Gbagada who came second and third respectively.
Essay Writing
The essay writing competition was one of the activities of the Youth Conference. It was keenly contested as the Society received up to 48 essays from students from participating schools.
Muslim News gathered that the essay topic for the junior category was “How has the new Hijab law in Lagos Secondary Schools impacted your Islamic awareness?” while the senior category essay topic was “The decline in the standard of secondary educational system in Nigeria: Where we got it wrong”.
Adedeji Fareedah Ajoke, a student from Skye-view college, Oworonshoki won the first position in the junior essay category contest with 80.5 points out of a possible 100. While Onakoya Faidat from Lanre Awolokun High School, Gbagada won the first position in the senior essay category contest with 86 points.
Lots of prizes were awarded to the winners. Consolation prizes which included Dr. Zafaran Adeniyi’s books were awarded to many students as gifts for attending the occasion.
The current administration of the council appreciated all those who made this year’s Youth Conference a reality, especially the conference planning committee who had worked for about eight months to ensure a befitting Youth Conference for the cherished students. They prayed Almighty Allah bless their efforts and overlook their shortcomings.
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