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Winners of Our Tomorrow art exhibition presented with prizes
By OBINNA EZUGWU
Secondary school students who emerged winners in the climate change art exhibition organised by Our Tomorrow, a climate change NGO, have been presented with cash prizes.
Recall that public and private schools in Lagos participated in the art exhibition held on Thursday, December 15, at the Didi Museum, Victoria Island, with winners chosen in different categories.
The exhibition was aimed at creating awareness among the younger generation about the dangers of climate change. It saw participants from 17 secondary schools, including, Fountain Heights Secondary School, Datforte International School, Yaba College of Technology Secondary School, Avicenna Schools, Grange Schools, Iju Senior Grammar School, Opebi Senior Grammar Schools, Wellspring College, Redeemers International Secondary School, among others, competing for prizes.
At the end the exhibition, Miss Musa Halimat of Datforte School emerged the overall winner, while Olugosi Oluwabuyinkunmi of Yaba Tech emerged first runner-up.
Sani Sodiq, also of Yaba Tech came third. The duo of Feyikemi and Fifehanmi Olufisoye of Fountain Heights shared 4th position, while Ubani Daniel of Datforte came 5th.
Other schools that participated in the exhibition included Mind Builders School, Corona Secondary School, Speedway College, Halifield Schools, Dee- Unquie Schools, International School, University Of Lagos, Cayley College and Ifako International School.
Presenting the prizes during a visit to Datforte International School on Thursday, Miss Alo Oluwatosin, programme officer of the NGO, said it was a way of encouraging the students, while noting that the founder, Prince Emeka Obasi Jnr, conceived the exhibition as a way of creating awareness among the younger generation about climate change.
Mr. Adebayo Oluwafemi, the school’s head of humanities department who stood in for the principal, in his remarks, thanked the NGO for the initiative, while expressing delight with the performance of his students, which he attributed to talent and effort of teachers.
“When the invitation came, we asked many of the students to produce and the two (Musa and Ubani) came out tops. They produced the work themselves, without being monitored, which speaks to the talent that they have and we are proud of them,” Oluwafemi said.
Oluwafemi said the exhibition has helped the students become more aware of climate change, while promising to do more to further create awareness among the students about the issues of climate.
“As it is, this organisation has helped us to become more aware of the issues of climate. It has made us understand that we should do more to help protect our environment, and it’s a challenge we want to take up. It’s also a good thing that the organisation has promised to partner with us in this regard, and we are looking forward the partnership.
“We hope to further enlighten the students and the larger society about our environment. Of course, the well-being of our environment is the well-being of humanity. So, yes, we will do more.”
Mr. Raphael Nwabiku, one of the teachers of the school in his remarks, thanked the founder, Obasi Jnr for the initiative, while expressing satisfaction with the performance of his students.
“I feel happy that my students won this prize, it gladdens my heart. And I appreciate the NGO for helping to create awareness about climate change,” he said.
“I particularly thank the founder, Prince Emeka Obasi junior. I’m happy that he’s doing this, and I pray he continues to do more.”
The overall winner, Musa, while appreciating the NGO for the prize money, said winning the competition has made her more confident in her abilities.
“I feel appreciated and I feel proud. I’m now understanding that I’m doing something right because people have tended to look down on me, which often makes me feel shy. But this competition has given me the opportunity to showcase my talent and I’m happy that I came first,” Musa said.
“The competition is about climate change. I will say that it has also helped me to understand the issues, and yes, I will do whatever I can to also help protect the environment.”
Similarly, Ubani who came fifth, said he is glad to have gotten a prize.
“I feel great about being one of the winners. I thank God that of all those who participated, I was one of the winners. It makes me feel proud,” he said.
“Before the competition, I already knew climate change, but the competition has helped me to learn more about it and hopefully, I’m going to be putting my own effort in this awareness campaign.”
The NGO team subsequently proceeded, on Friday, to Yaba College of Technology Secondary School where they were received by the principal, Dr. Taiwo Omonia, who expressed appreciation for the awareness campaign and promised to work more closely with the organisation.
“I appreciate the NGO for this initiative. Giving enlightenment to the young ones about climate change is very important. At the moment, it doesn’t appear to be a popular subject, but it’s very important that we talk about it because of the dangers we now face as a result of climate change. I mean, the signs are all around us,” she said.
“We are talking about a problem whose adverse effects we are already seeing, and of course, if something serious is not done to reverse the trend, we’re all endangered. So, I thank the organisation for getting involved. I’m particularly impressed by the fact that the founder is a student. It shows that he’s very serious minded.
“Climate change is a problem that affects all us. I’m happy with what the organisation is doing, and surely, the school is interested in working with the team to create more awareness in this regard.”
Speaking after receiving his prize, Oluwabuyinkunmi who came second in the competition also promised take up the challenge of creating awareness about climate change.
“I feel very good. The hard work of my teachers and the effort I put in have paid off,” he said.
“This is about climate change, which is something that affects all of us in Africa. It is our collective responsibility to create awareness about it and I will do my best to create this awareness going forward.”
Similarly, Sani Sodiq, who came fourth, also promised to take up the challenge of leading the climate change awareness campaign.
“I am grateful to my teachers and my colleagues who assisted me in the process of producing the art work. I’m grateful for their support,” he said.
“The competition has made me to become more aware about climate change. I’ve also realized that by dropping plastic bottles indiscriminately, we’re contributing to plastic pollution, and when you look at it, plastic pollution in our water bodies is already a huge problem. It is killing marine lives and causing erosion. So, I believe that the time has come for us to do something, and I will be contributing my own quota by helping to create awareness.”
The NGO also visited Fountain Heights School where they were received by Mr. Emeka Ibe, the art teacher who thanked the team for the visit and expressed his appreciation for the prize.
“This is promised fulfilled because when we were trying to talk to them about the competition, we told them that they’d win prizes, which brought out the zeal in them to participate. They did very well and here we are. They are very excited and in sure that they are looking forward to taking part in such competitions in the future,” Ibe said.
“Fountain Heights is known as one of the leading lights in art. We have produced good artists over the years and hopefully it continues to be like that.
“The NGO is not new to the school, we have always participated in similar competitions, and we will be glad to continue to participate in whatever thing the organisation is doing. The school is known for bringing up the younger ones, so it’s also a platform for us to create awareness about climate change, not only amongst the students, but the larger society. It’s a good thing.”
Receiving her prize, Fifehanmi, 12, a JSS 3 pupil, promised to take up the challenge of educating her fellow students about climate change.
“I feel happy to be one of the winners, and I will take up the challenge of educating other about climate change, and about the dangers we all face as a result of environmental pollution,” she said.
