Primary 6 pupil wins reading competition in Abuja

A primary six pupil of the Local Education Authority (LEA) Primary School, Estate, Gwagwalada Area Council, Mansur Umar, has emerged winner of the third edition of AfriGrowth Reading Competition having beaten four others in the concluding part of the competition in Abuja.

The participating schools were LEA Primary School, Azhayapi, Bwari – represented by Chioma Emmanuel; LEA Primary School, Estate, Gwagwalada – represented by Mansur Umar; LEA Primary School, Bamishi, Kuje – represented by Emmanuella Alormario; LEA Primary School, Iddo Bobota, AMAC – represented by Cletus Victory; and Gado Nasko Science Primary School, Gwagwalada – represented by Awelewa Elijah.

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The winning school, now a second-time winner, having won the previous edition in June 2019, left with a trophy and a certificate, just as all the other contestants were given medals and branded AfriGrowth Foundation school bags and exercise books.

The winner, Master Umar, thanked the foundation and his school for the opportunity given him to compete and win the contest.

A teacher from the winning school, Mrs Egugwu C. Obinne, commended AfriGrowth Foundation for organising the competition, saying her school’s library, which the foundation established in March 2017, had indeed added value to the lives of pupils and increased their interest in reading.

She pledged that the school would continue to work with the foundation in inculcating a reading culture in pupils.

The President of the AfriGrowth, Dr Dayo Keshi, while congratulating the pupils on a good outing, said it was necessary for every child to be proficient in reading in order to succeed in school and discharge even basic responsibilities as a citizen.

She added that teachers must be commended for their guidance in preparing the children for the competition, hence she awarded them certificates of appreciation.

She further explained that since 2012 AfriGrowth developed the Library Literacy Programme to encourage the “back to reading culture, especially in underserved communities to reawaken a slumbering reading culture in Nigeria through the provision of library facilities and other supportive systems.”

According to her, the foundation has since inception established 41 libraries in primary schools in underserved communities in the FCT, Nassarawa, Ondo, Kwara and Delta states and donated over 80,000 novellas, novels and plays.

She said, “The programme has impacted the lives of over 45,000 pupils; improving their reading skills. The libraries have improved reading among pupils, as it is evident that schools with library interventions have performed very well in the reading competition.”