Lawmaker presents N10.6m award to winners of school debate

• Published On: 31 August 2024 at 18:42

On Saturday, Jeremiah Umar, an Adamawa lawmaker in the House of Representatives, presented cash prizes of N10.6 million to the winners of a debate competition organized for 35 secondary schools in his constituency.

Speaking at the event, Umaru, who represents the Akwanga/Nassarawa-Eggon/Wamba Federal Constituency in Nasarawa State, stated that the gesture was intended to promote quality education in the constituency.

He stated that the schools were chosen from 35 electoral wards within his constituency.

Umaru said he was impressed by the participants' confidence and composure, and that they demonstrated a high level of intellectual prowess during the exercise.

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Umaru, who promised to have a long-term impact on his constituency, also promised to make the debate an annual event, saying it would encourage networking among students and expose them to standard best practices.

He went on to say that the programme was designed to help students build a strong network and a platform to improve their public speaking skills.

"The network they are forming today will benefit their academic pursuits in the future and improve their public speaking abilities.

"It will also enable them achieve their dreams and aspirations in life with ease," according to him.

According to the News Agency of Nigeria, Command Science Technical Secondary School in Rinze, Akwanga, won the overall competition, with Baptist Academy in Wamba and Shepherd International College Akwanga coming in first and second place, respectively.

The lawmaker gave the overall winner a cheque for N1 million and five laptops, the first runner-up N700,000 and three laptops, and the third runner-up N500,000 and two laptops.

He also awarded N500,000 and one laptop to the best speaker, N250,000 and one laptop to the second-best speaker, and N150,000 and one laptop to the third-best speaker in the competition.

The lawmaker distributed N200,000 and educational materials to each of the remaining 32 schools involved in the debate.