By Chinenye Anuforo

No fewer than ten outstanding teenagers, across Lagos, Ogun, Osun and Benue States, have emerged winners of the maiden edition of national essay competition, TeensThink.

The winners were announced at the grand finale of the competition, held in Lagos, on after an intense and objective evaluation process by a team of objective independent jurors.

The ceremony, which had in attendance, government dignitaries, young entrepreneurs, authors and school administrators, saw winners take home prizes ranging from cash, laptops, educational games, books and merchandise products from sponsors.

Speaking at the event, founder of the TeensThink initiative, Kehinde Olesin, described the winners as worthy ambassadors of their respective families, schools and states. According to her, the vision of TeensThink is to prepare outstanding teens for remarkable success in learning and character “We are delighted by the huge number of entries we received across several states of the country, we are also grateful for the partnership from brands, school administrators, and government representatives towards the success of our maiden edition. At TeensThink we are creating a global community of teens, who can personally and collaboratively spark up personal and social change locally and internationally. We are committed to empowering teenagers to reach their full potential, equipping them with relevant life-skills for success as they approach adulthood, we are also enhancing career and college preparation for these young leaders, through interactive and hands-on educational sessions’ she said

Oche Ochefu of Methodist Boys High School, Victoria Island, Lagos emerged overall winner of the Competition while Sunday Boluwatife and James Esther Nnena of Lishabi Grammer School, Abeokuta, Ogun State and Ilesha Grammer School, Osun State came first and second runners up respectively. Seven other Teens were awarded cash prizes as they claimed the fourth to tenth positions.

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While delivering his goodwill message, Chairman of the Occasion and former Commissioner for Tourism, Arts and Culture, Lagos State, Steve Ayorinde lauded the winners for their outstanding performances, describing them as future leaders that have the potential of excelling in whatever field of endeavor they find themselves “the winners have distinguished themselves for excellence through the level of their performance and we are very proud of them and the prospects that they hold for the advancement of the nation. He said.

Ayorinde added that TeensThink is a commendable initiative that will help improve the overall quality of education in Nigeria and urged more schools and educational institutions to make the most of the platform.

Chief Juror of the competition and Convener Supportive Discipline for Dignity group, Mr Akin Benjamin, expressed his satisfaction at the quality of entries and performance from the winners, “I am impressed with the quality of entries we received, it was an intense screening process as over reviewed over 150 entries, from across states in Nigeria, Rivers, Taraba, Benue, Ogun and Osun. “The winners are deserving of all the recognition and accolades. I am happy to be a part of this process. It is important that we reward and encourage outstanding talents and academic excellence from the teenage stage in order to build a creative, intelligent and productive youth population,” he said.

Temilayo Abodurin aka Temisax, an award winning Saxophonist led performances and entertainment, from specially talented teens, with her awesome saxophone skills to the delight of everyone in attendance.

TeensThink (TT), an initiative of MarchMedia, a fast-paced communications agency based in Lagos Nigeria, is a leadership, educative, and interactive platform geared towards building outstanding leaders digitally oriented with great marketable and communication skills. The National essay competition is the pilot activity for the TeensThink initiative.