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Winners of Our Tomorrow NGO logo design competition get their prizes
By OBINNA EZUGWU
Students from various secondary schools in Lagos who came out tops in the logo design competition organised by Our Tomorrow NGO, as part of an art exhibition aimed at creating awareness about climate change, have gotten their prize monies.
It would be recalled that public and private secondary schools in Lagos participated in the art exhibition held on Thursday, December 15, at the Didi Museum, Victoria Island, with winners chosen in logo design and poster design categories.
It witnessed participants from a number of secondary schools, including, Fountain Heights Secondary School, Datforte International School, Yaba College of Technology Secondary School and Grange Schools.
Others are Opebi Senior Grammar Schools, Halifield Schools, Dee-unique and Cayley College, etc.
In the logo design competition, Sodiq Bakare, a student of Opebi Senior Grammar School who emerged winner got N50,000 prize money, while Emmanuel Adams of Halified Schools who came second got N30,000 and Oluwatosin Osinibi of Grange who came third, won N 20,000
In the poster design category, Miss Musa Halimat of Datforte School who emerged the overall winner, as well as Olugosi Oluwabuyinkunmi of Yaba Tech who emerged first runner-up; Sani Sodiq, also of Yaba Tech who came third, and the duo of Feyikemi and Fifehanmi Olufisoye of Fountain Heights who shared 4th position, including Ubani Daniel of Datforte who came 5th got their prizes last week.
Meanwhile, presenting the prize money to winner of logo design competition during a visit to Opebi Senior Grammar School on Friday, Miss Alo Oluwatosin, programme officer of the NGO, encouraged the students to be ambassadors of change in the society.
She restated that the award was a way of encouraging the students to learn more about climate change, while noting that the founder, Prince Emeka Obasi Jnr, conceived the exhibition as a way of creating awareness among the younger generation about issues of the environment.
Speaking after receiving his prize, Master Bakare expressed delight in winning the competition, while promising to use it as motivation to create awareness about climate change among his peers.
“I feel good that I was able to compete with students from other schools and I came first,” he said. “The competition has made me to become more aware about the issues of the environment, and with this knowledge, I will help create awareness about climate change.
“I will enlighten by friends, my fellow students and members of the larger community about climate change and why we should endeavor to take care of our environment.”
Onigbinde Abel Olajide, Geography teacher, Opebi Senior Grammar School, who spoke on behalf of the the management, expressed his gratitude to the founder of the NGO, Obasi Jnr, whom he praised for taking up the challenge of trying to preserve the environment even as a student.
Oluwatosin Osinibi of Grange School (3rd left) during the presentation
Olajide, who noted that the school already has a climate change club, promised to continue to partner with the NGO for the purpose of creating more awareness.
“We’re very grateful for this prize. We wish to thank the founder of the NGO, Prince Emeka Obasi Jnr for this laudable initiative. Even as a student himself, he’s taken it upon himself to fight to save our environment for our sake and for the sake of the future generations. I appreciate this initiative and I ask God to continue to guide him,” he said.
“I feel happy that my student won this prize. It shows that I’m adding value to lives and contributing to the future of this great nation.”
Olajide emphasized the need for everyone to get involved in the business of taking care of the environment, such that the environment will in turn, take care of humanity.
“The school already has a climate change club and the idea is to help create awareness about the issues of the environment; to teach the children that about the need to take care of the environment,” he said.
“Environment can be likened to an individual, if you don’t take care of it, it won’t take care of you. But if you nurture the environment; if you conserve the environment you are sure of having a better place to live. So, it’s for our interest. We will keep on doing this. We chose days when we will talk specifically about the environment and how we can make it better.
“On behalf of the management and students of the school, we’re are grateful for the prize given to our student who came first in the logo competition.”
The NGO team also made a stop to Halified Schools where it presented the N30,000 prize money to Adams who came second in the logo competition.
Adams, in his remarks after the presentation, promised to put more effort into creating awareness about climate change.
“I feel happy that I came second in the competition. When I submitted my work, they asked me to write an article explaining it, which I did. But I didn’t get a response immediately and I’d totally forgotten about it. So, I was surprised when my teacher told me that I came second in the competition.
“I will try the much I can to encourage my friends to learn more about climate change, and I will introduce them to the NGO so that they can also be part of the community and learn more about climate change.”
Also speaking, Olugbimi Oresegun, Head of Halified Schools commended the NGO for the initiative, noting that it’s an eye opener for the students who have now become more aware of the need to protect the environment.
“This exhibition is an eye opener for all the students. It is important that they are aware of issues around global warming, environmental degradation and the need to protect the environment,” he said.
“If we don’t protect the environment, the environment will not protect us. It’s therefore important that we all do what we can to make sure that our environment is protected.
“I commend the organisation for bringing that awareness through this exhibition. I’m sure that by the time you come next time, our students will be more ready to participate.”
The team also visited Grange School to present third place prize to Osinibi, who said she felt good with her accomplishment, while promising to do more to create awareness about climate change.
“I feel happy to have been able to represent my school in such a competition that has to do with creating awareness about climate change,” Osinibi said.
“Having won this prize, I’m going to try the much I can to spread this awareness; to tell people about the effects of climate change and how important it is for us to stop the causes before it gets out of hand.”
