Tejiri Ebikeme
The 2014 edition of Ejele Mathematics Competition has been won by Okpe Grammar School, Sapele, Delta State.
The annual event was instituted by the Commissioner representing Itsekiri ethnic nationality in the Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (DESOPADEC), Hon. Michael Diden, alias Ejele, in honour of the former Minister of Finance, Chief Festus Okotie-Eboh.
The competition was designed for senior secondary students in the state. It is expected to move from Sapele Local Government Area to other parts of the state and the country at large.
Okpe Grammar school won the competition, in which 32 public and private schools participated in the Sapele region. A private school, Excellence School of Science and Technology, also on Sapele, came second while International High School came third.
The competition was coordinated by Eferiofe Education Services, Sapele.
The final of the competition held at the Christ Foundation Ministry International, aka, Ejele Chapel, Sapele, founded by Diden, was keenly contested by the students of Sapele Grammar School and Excellence School of Science and Technology. Three students represented each of the schools at the final.
The competition was also initiated as part of the programmes to mark the 5th anniversary of the Christ Foundation Ministry, a charity and evangelism outreach, with branches in Agbor, Ughelli, Koko and Warri.
The finalists were given different prizes, including computers, laptops, Ipads, school bags, note books as well as cash prizes to the teachers.
Diden, in his remark at the event witnessed by top government officials, politicians and business executives, said the competition was packaged to encourage the students in the study of mathematics, which he described as the core subject in the study of science-related courses.
“The competition is aimed at ensuring that the younger generation is assisted to attain a high academic and professional standard, especially in the study of science-related courses, that would better their lives and equip them for the greater task of self sustenance and entrepreneurial skill in the near future,” he said.
Besides, Diden, an accomplished politician and notable philanthropist, said the competition was in honour of the late Okotie-Eboh, whom he said put Sapele on the world map, lamenting that “little or nothing has been heard about the town since the demise of Chief Okotie-Eboh.”
“Charity begins at home. In the past we had a minister, Festus Okotie-Eboh, who was from Sapele. From that time till now, we have not seen any other. I decided to embark on this competition for people, who believed in education to contest with others from the state and then, in Nigeria. The aim is to put Sapele in the world map again as it was in the past,” he stated.
Diden assured that the competition would be an annual contest, starting from the local level to the national level.
In a related development, Diden has doled out two cars, motorcycles and cash gifts to members of his church, to mark the 5th anniversary of the church.
The cleric, while presenting the gifts to beneficiaries within the church premises, charged Christians to always assist and give alms to the less privileged members of the society as well as to love one another and eschew bitterness and violence.
On hand to celebrate the 5th anniversary of the church with Diden and his wife, Evangelist Mary Diden, were former Minister of Niger Delta, Elder Godsday Orubebe, Founder of Christ Mercy Land Deliverance Ministry, owners of Mercy TV, Prophet Jeremiah Fufeyin, Ambassador Rex Justice of the United Nations, Chairman, Independent Petroleum Marketers of Nigeria (IPMAN), Chief Akpos Edafevwotu; Akulagba of Warri Kingdom, Chief Ayirimi Emami and former Chairman of Sapele LGA, Hon. Godwin Atose, among other dignitaries.
