By Bianca Iboma-Emefu
Miss Tamaramiebi Akika, a student of Corona Secondary School, Agbara Estate, Ogun State, has emerged winner of the second edition of the annual Boston Consulting Group (BCG) Lagos International Women’s Day (IWD) essay contest.
The annual competition is designed to foster deep intellectual engagement with young students in celebration of women. Each year, the essays are based on the IWD theme, offering the students the opportunity of articulating their thoughts on the subject of gender parity.
Speaking on the competition, Tolu Oyekan, partner at BCG, Lagos noted that the organization was focused on building conscious engagement among secondary school students on gender equality and all its attendant issues. “We expect that this will motivate the students to be more deliberate in their interactions and reactions to gender stereotypes, as we strive for a more gender-equal society,” he said.
Sarah Chebli of Avi-Cenna International School, Ikeja GRA, emerged the second-place winner of the BCG Lagos IWD essay writing contest. Other winning schools were Greensprings School, Anthony Village, and British International School, Maroko.
To participate, students from across Lagos, aged between ten to 18, were required to write an essay of no more than 1,000 words on the IWD-themed prompt.
Participating schools submitted their top five essays, which were reviewed by the judges. The best essays were selected based on clarity, originality of thought and expression, compelling force of argument, and pragmatism of ideas to achieve gender parity.
The maiden edition, which held last year, received several entries from five schools and three winners were picked from Holy Child College and British International School.