Boluwatife Tijani, a 12-year-old pupil of Araromi
Primary School, Agege, on Wednesday emerged
the winner in the 2015 Spelling Bee competition
in Lagos State.
Tijani, a Primary Six pupil, competed with 56
other contestants representing the 20 local
government areas and 37 local council
development areas in the state in the
competition held in Ikeja.
Ten-year-old Iretiola Ifaniyi, a Primary Five pupil
of Methodist Primary School, Ibese, came
second while 10-year-old Jonathan Arowodu of
Akesan Primary School came third.
The winners received N150, 000, N100, 000 and
N75, 000 respectively from the state
government.
Mrs Ronke Soyombo, Director-General, Office of
Education Quality A$$urance, said that the
competition was aimed at developing the innate
skills of pupils and students.
Soyombo said the competition had been able to
fulfill the ultimate goal of creating healthy
rivalry amongst students as well as drawing out
their intellectual capabilities.
She said that the agency had already set in
motion machineries aimed at improving the
quality of education in Lagos.
The Director-General said that the competition
was the brainchild of the former first lady of the
state, Sen. Oluremi Tinubu, the founder of New
Era Foundation.
“The idea of spelling competition, conceived in
2006 to encourage academic excellence, was
adopted by the Lagos State Ministry of
Education.
“The competition has helped students/pupils
improve their spelling skills, increase vocabulary
and develop correct English usage,’’ she said.
According to her, it is also creating good reading
habits that will lead to better academic
performance and boost the confidence of
participants.
She said this was with a view to preparing the
pupils/students for future endeavours and
igniting the spirit of competition among them.
Some of the winners who spoke to NAN
commended the state government for
introducing the competition.
Tijani said that she studied the dictionary very
well in order to emerge the winner.
“I am very happy and excited, I always read
my dictionary and I thank God that I won
the first position.
“My parents are traders; they support me in
all that I do.
“I will spend my money on my studies
because I want to become a medical
doctor,’’ she said.
Ifaniyi said that she read her English
textbooks and dictionary everyday to
improve her spelling ability.
“I am very happy for winning the second
position; I won with the help of my parents
and teachers.
“I thank my mother, she sells recharge
cards and support me in everything I do,’’
she said.
The cla$$ teacher of Tijani, Mrs Olubumi
Adewunmi, said she was happy with the
success recorded by her pupil.
Adewunmi, an English teacher, said the
competition had improved the performance
of students.
“She has made our school proud today; this
is the first time we are winning the
competition.
“We expected her to win because we
coached her very well for the competition.
“She is a very outstanding girl in the school,
she participated in all activities in cla$$,’’
she said.