Mkpoikana Udoma
Port Harcourt — Secondary schools in Rivers State will in September 2024 compete for N17.5million quiz competition organized by the Education Champions League, ECL, as a way of fostering reading habits among Nigerian secondary school students.
The Competition, according to ECL, will test for traits developed through reading, such as comprehension, analytical skills, general knowledge, reading fluency, as well as oral and written expressions.
While the winner will go home with N10 million, the second and third positions will clinch N5million and N2.5million, amongst other championship trophies, prizes and institutional support.
According to organizers, 25percent of the prize for each position will be applied by ECL to procure books for the school; 25percent will be made available to the school as institutional support and 50percent will go to the students who comprise the school’s team, payable into an account nominated by the student’s parents.
Speaking, the Chairman of the Board of ECL, Prof Eme Ekekwe, said the books slated for the 2024 Competition are Simon Kolawole’s Fellow Nigerians, It’s All Politics; Waziri Adio’s The Arc of the Possible; and Bolaji Abdullah’s On a Platter of Gold.
Ekekwe in an interview with newsmen, lamented over the decline in reading culture of Nigerians, particularly young people, who according to him, spend more time on social media.
“We want to begin to build the core of Nigerians who are interested in leadership and being good citizen. And we believe that if we begin at the secondary school level it will help over a period of time for that crop of Nigerians to come up and take responsibility in the society and run those positions transparently, honestly and in a way that meet some of the things we think are lacking now, in terms of leadership our country.
“And one specific tool we want to use and help that process is to get young people to begin to read. And when they read, they are aware of their environment and can understand the issues affecting them.
“I think there is a decline in reading culture. People do a lot of social media instead of reading. A book leads you through a process which is invaluable, whereas most of what is social media is not material for leadership or good citizenship.
“Whether you read online or hardcopy, please read,” the Prof tasked students.
