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After days of competition among eighteen schools across Nigeria’s 36 states and the FCT, Abuja, three brainy pupils from PTA-NADP International College, Lafia, Nasarawa state, beat 15 other finalists to win the second edition of the MTN ASAP Quiz competition in Abuja, on Friday, June 23, 2023.
The winning team, made up of Peace Monday, Abdul Isa Salihu, and Augusta Okyuwa, polled 50 points to beat their fellow finalists from Anglican Girls Grammar School, Benin, Edo state; Katsina College; Olivet Baptist High School, Oyo, Government Girls Secondary School, Abakpa Nike, Enugu and Government Girls Secondary School, Yola, Adamawa state.
The ASAP competition final, which was held in Abuja, had the advocates give a brief talk on the topic, ‘People First, Stop Stigma, Discrimination, and Strengthen Prevention,’ as the students all gave viable solutions on how discrimination against substance abusers can be eradicated, and how prevention can be strengthened.
“The experience made me learn more about drug abuse and I’m going home to spread the message to friends and colleagues,” one of the winning students told Netng.
According to The National Programme Officer of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Folusho Ajayi-Adelekan, it was exciting to see the students give their ambassadorial speech as it showed the amount of work they put into understanding the concept of substance abuse.
“When they came out to give their ambassadorial speech, you could see that a lot of work had gone into researching the topic of drug use, its impact, and the knowledge they displayed during the quiz. I’m more than excited. I hope that this will be scaled up in the years to come so we can target more schools, more students so we can ensure that they don’t take part in drug abuse,” She said.
After their talk, they moved into the quiz competition, which was divided into two segments in which each school was expected to answer five questions each from the 40 questions set for each segment.
The winner, PTA-NADP International College, took the top spot with 50 points, Anglican Girls Grammar School Benin came second with 40 points, and Government Girls Secondary School Yola, emerged as the second runner-up with 35 points.
Shadrach Haruna, Secretary of the National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency of Nigeria (NDLEA), revealed during his interview that although a winner had to be picked, all the students are champions.
“I congratulate all the participants. I want to say all of them are champions because to come all the way to Abuja for this type of competition is not an easy task, and I want to congratulate MTN as well for a very successful programme because this is a demonstration of a common and shared responsibility of this fight against drug use.”
Speaking on the performance of the students at the quiz competition, Dr. Ngozi Madubuike, a moderator of the competition and NDLEA’s Director of the Drug Demand Reduction Unit, mentioned that the success of the quiz competition lies in the fact that the participants have a lot of knowledge on drug use and its dangers.
“One very striking thing today is the fact that we have come to realise that these children know a lot. They have a lot of knowledge about drug use and associated consequences,” she said.
All the participating students from PTA-NADP International College get to go home with an HP Notebook 15- AMD Ryzen 3, their teacher inclusive. While the participating students from Anglican Girls Grammar School Benin get to go home with a Samsung Tab A8. And students from Government Girls Secondary School Yola get to go home with a Samsung Tab A7 alongside their teacher.
The post How Nasarawa School Quiz Team Won National Anti-Substance Abuse Competition appeared first on Nigerian Entertainment Today.
