* As MSSN Bariga, other area councils mark Children’s Day with youth confab
The Amir (President) of the Muslim Students’ Society of Nigeria, MSSN, Lagos State Area Unit, on Monday, May 27, joined millions of Muslim youths to mark this year’s Children’s Day with the annual Youth Conference, urging them to maintain a strong faith in face of life challenges.
Muslim News gathered that the yearly event, an initiative of the Muslim students’ body, was organised by all the area councils in Lagos State, with a unified theme, “Vanguards of the truth”.
Mallam Abiona ably represented by the General Secretary, MSSN Bariga Central Branch, AbdulQudus Ojomo at Bariga Area Council Youth Conference also urged Muslims youths to prioritize leadership, skill development in a bid to maximize their full potentials.
The event was held at the Christopher Popoola Hall, Federal College of Education (Technical), Akoka, Lagos with more than 600 students from about 30 secondary schools within Bariga, Obanikoro, Oworonsoki, Gbagada and environs in attendance.
In the speech which was also read at other area councils during the Youth Conference, the Lagos State Amir of MSSN emphasized the importance of Muslim children upholding truth, advocating justice, and striving for the betterment of humanity.
He encouraged the participants to acquire knowledge and develop skills, citing the Prophet Muhammad’s (SAW) saying, “Seeking knowledge is an obligation upon every Muslim.”
According to him, the MSSN conference aimed to empower young Muslims to become strong, knowledgeable, and able to uphold the truth in all situations.
Abiona, while reflecting on the dire situation in Gaza, condemned the massacre and genocide perpetrated by the State of Israel against Palestinians.
The Amir extolled the Palestinian children for their bravery and resistance, despite constant shellings and bombings of the Zionist occupation regime in Gaza.
He urged Muslim children and youth globally to envision themselves as tomorrow’s leaders and to strive to be strong in faith, intellect and character.
On his part, the Amir of MSSN Bariga Area Council, Idris Durowoju welcomed the students to the Conference and wished them an entertaining activity.
‘Vanguard of truth must be ready to face challenges’
Speaking on the theme, an erudite scholar and seasoned accountant, Mr Shefiu Olabanjo, FCCA, ACA, MSc, said “being a vanguard of the truth is not a bed of roses.”
He further buttressed the qualities of a vanguard of the truth in his talk, which include good communication skills, good morals, compassion and readiness to face challenges.”
How the winners emerge in the three levels of competitions
• Spelling Bee Contest
Qismat Agbabiaka, a junior secondary school student representing YPO Shodeinde Memorial School, Bariga came first in the Spelling Bee contest after spelling the words “Pyxis, latifundium, oligopsony, lachrymator” correctly.
Aminat Hameed and Abdullah Balogun from Baptist Junior High School, Obanikoro and Skye-View College, Oworonsoki 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 Abdullah Balogun from Skye view college and Fatiha Balogun of Thonyx Immaculate Schools, Bariga for the third position.
Abdullah got the position by spelling the word “panegyric” correctly after a tie-breaker, displacing Fatiha to 4th position. Aishah AbdulLateef of Eva Adelaja Junior Grammar School who were the defending Champion came 5th.
A total of 15 schools participated in the preliminary of the Spelling Bee contest out of which only five qualified for the finals.
Inter-school Quiz Competition
The students (Akinsola Faozyat and Muhydeen Sulaiman) representing Muslim Senior College, Oworonsoki won first position in the quiz competition after garnering 20 points ahead of YPO Shodeinde Memorial School, Bariga and Gbagada Senior Grammar School who came second and third respectively.
The finale featured five schools including Skye-View College, Oworonsoki (4th position) and Engreg High School, Pedro, Bariga (5th position).
A total of 17 schools participated in the preliminary of the quiz competition.
Essay Writing
The announcement of the essay writing contest was highly anticipated. The organisers received a record number of essay entries (83). This figure almost doubled the number of entries received for the contest last year.
The essays were graded twice with seven (7) criteria considered for the scoring metrics. These are Artificial Intelligence, plagiarism, organisation, content, expression, mechanical accuracy and maximum word limit. Essays that were heavily plagiarised were automatically disqualified.
Muslim News gathered that the essay topic for the junior category was “Combating the menace of examination malpractice in secondary schools: my role as a student” while the senior category essay topic was “MSSN @ 70: X-raying the pains and gains”.
Mariam Arike Abdulwasi’i, a student from Skye-View College, Oworonshoki won the first position in the junior essay category contest with 82 points out of a possible 100. While Ibrahim Oladipupo Abdulwasi’i also from Skye-View College, Oworonshoki won the first position in the senior essay category contest with 86.5 points.
The Conference also had a panel session with five selected students discussing the topic “Should secondary school students seek parental approval before joining social media platforms?”
The panel session featured students from Toyyibat Group of Schools (Tijani Hadiyah), Ajayi Crowther Senior Memorial School (Abu Anifa Anipasantira), CMS Girls’ Grammar School (Adeyemi Fatimo), Engreg High School (Balogun Khalid) and Eva Adelaja Senior Girls’ Grammar (Shiro Fatimo Abike).
The Conference was brought to a close with a vote of thanks from the planning committee chairman, AbdulRasheed Sirajudeen who expressed appreciation to the students, teachers and funders of the event.
