BY PHILIP NWOSU
The Nigerian Navy said it has placed much premium on youth mentoring and empowerment, as precondition for national security and building.
The Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Awwal Gambo who gave this assurance at the annual debate, quiz and stem competition for Nigerian Navy Military and Welfare Secondary Schools for 2021 said that some of the submissions made at the debate would be deliberated upon by the authorities of the force and could be considered in the formation of policies that pertain to education and youth development.
Admiral Gambo who was represented at the occasion by the Flag Officer Commanding (FOC) Eastern Naval Command Rear Admiral SK Ibrahim applauded the theme for the 2021 Chief of Naval Staff Debate, Quiz and Stem competition, which is Education as a Catalyst for youth development and National Security, said the topic was carefully chosen to provoke critical and analytical thinking among the competing students, with a view to improving the quality of education in schools.
His words: “Debate and quiz completions are usually organized as part of co-curricular activities in school to enable students exude their knowledge and expertise in the three domains of learning, which are the cognitive, affective and the psychomotor domains.”
Quoting from an American author and scholar, Brian Herbert, which said that the capacity to learn is a gift, the ability to learn is a skill and the willingness to learn is a choice, Admiral Gambo the Directorate of Naval Education organizes the debate and quiz competition yearly to enhance students learning.
While urging the contestants to exhibit high level of intelligence during the debate, the Chief of Naval Staff advised them to articulate their points accurately and make their teachers proud.
Earlier, the Director of Naval Education Commodore Isa Ahmed the Chief of the Naval Staff Debate/Quiz and STEM Competition for Year 2021 commenced on Wed 16 to Thu 17 Jun 21 with the conduct of the Competition at the Command level, adding that this was to allow the NHQ as well as the three Nigerian Navy Operations Commands determine schools to represent them in the grand finale.
He said that the Nigerian Navy Military and six secondary schools representing the NHQ and 3 Nigerian Navy Operations Command would be competing in this year’s grand finale.
He named the participating schools to include; the NNMS Ikot Ntuen representing the NHQ and NNSS Ojo, Ogbomoso and Imeri who will be flying the flag of Western Naval Command, adding that the Eastern Naval Command is represented by NNSS Port Harcourt and Calabar while NNSS Okura is representing Central Naval Command.
Commodore Ahmed said the competition is designed to promote learning, public speaking and creativity among students, pointing out that, “this year’s edition of the Competition is enhanced to include Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics, STEM for short.”
He said: “The selected subjects for the quiz aspect of the competition are Mathematics, English Studies, Basic Science, Basic Technology, Computer Studies, Civic Education and Current Affairs. Debate topics for this competition were carefully selected to test the contestants’ analytical thinking skills and avail them the opportunity to display their public speaking skills.
“Therefore, their ability to articulate their thoughts and succinctly justify their submissions would aid their successes. The STEM aspect is organized to enable the Nigerian Navy promote creativity and assess the level of application of knowledge gained in the classroom. Accordingly, our students have developed tools, machineries as well as equipment and are ready to display them to this audience. I have no doubts that a lot of innovations which are borne out of passion and ingenuity have been imbued in the development of the various STEM products. However, the students’ ability to effectively communicate principles guiding the operations of the products will go a long way in showcasing their creativities.
“Please bear in mind that the Nigerian Navy as well as parents and teachers have invested so much resources at ensuring high standard of academic and behavioural excellence among our students. Therefore, this Competition would be viewed as a platform to assess students’ assimilation of what has been taught so far and their meaningful application of knowledge gained for the betterment of humanity. Accordingly, it is expected that the contestants will make their teachers and parents proud as they exhibit the spirit of sportsmanship in displaying their academic and technical prowess.