Ibadan, Nigeria — The 2024 Richard Ogunjimi Oratory Contest, the first in an annual series in commemoration of the International Day of the Boy-child, has come to a close with three schools emerging as grand prize winners.
The contest was part of the activities of the Ibadan Boys Conference, which was held on Friday, May 17 2024 at State Secretariat, Ibadan, and saw seven (7) secondary schools contest on the topic. “How to challenge stereotypes and build up the 21st-century boy-child.”
Speaking on the modalities of the competition, Olamilekan Mashika, the Director of Campus Networks and Volunteer Engagement at Boys Without Borders Nigeria noted that the participating schools did justice to the prompt.
“The Richard Ogunjimi Oratory competition was contested by Methodist Grammar School, Bodija International College, Pathfinder College, Abadina College, Immanuel College High School, De-Graceland College, and Maverick Schools. One male student represented each school, with each representative given 5 minutes.
For determining the winner, we had a panel of three award-winning judges. The judges selected the winners using the following criteria: Content & Facts, Delivery, Concept and Logic, organization, Expression, Appearance, and Timing,” Mashika said.
David Pelumi Faleye of Bodija International School, Adeyeba-Oris Roy of Maverick College, and Oladimeji Olasunkanmi of Methodist Grammar School took the podium finish in the order mentioned, clinching the top prizes of ₦50, 000, ₦30, 000, and ₦20, 000 in their schools’ names.
