…As Winners In Essay Competition Receive Prizes
The Commissioner for Information and Communications in Rivers State, Pastor Paulinus Nsirim, has said that those who demarket Rivers State should be shunned saying that there were those who were taking it upon themselves to demarket the state.
He said this was as the governor, Chief Nyesom Wike, was leading the way in democratic governance in the country through visionary leadership.
The Commissioner for Information and Communications spoke during a prize-giving ceremony for winners in an essay competition entitled “Our State Our Responsibility” in which six winners emerged, as the event took place on Tuesday at Ministry’s Conference Hall.
Speaking on those who demarket the state, the Commissioner while delivering welcome address said: “Today for me as Commissioner will remain evergreen because this is part of the vision that I launched while I was Permanent Secretary in the Ministry. We initiated with my colleagues who were directors then Our State Our Responsibility campaign. What did we intend to achieve? We wanted to sell Rivers State to those who live and do business here. We wanted to propagate the policies and programmes of His Excellency Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, Governor of Rivers State who through his visionary leadership has redefined governance in Nigeria”.
He further said: “We wanted those living and doing business in Rivers State to understand that if you live here, you do business here, we have a shared prosperity to protect, that Rivers State belongs to all of us. Therefore, we should shun those who demarket our state. There are those who are taking it upon themselves to demarket Rivers State, make Rivers State look as if it’s a theatre of violence”.
The six winners in the essay competition include the overall winner Oyibo Sophia Awajibenem Eyitemi, second place winner Anyiam Christian Kelechukwu and third place winner Paago Ziga Praise.
The runners-up include Jaja Tamunoimiegbam Christian, Amarachi Chimezie and Ovovwigho E. Deborah.
Pastor Nsirim said that the ministry wants to inculcate in youths right values through the essay competition.
The first prize winner was given cash gift of N60,000, a certificate and a plaque while second place and third place winners also received cash gift of N 50,000 and N40,000 respectively with certificates and plaques.
The runners-up had cash gift of N10,000 and a certificate.
Pastor Nsirim said the winner would be brand ambassador for three months and would be showcased in all media houses owned by the state and be part of ministry’s activities saying she would be hero to all youths in the state.
He gave the overall winner the opportunity to serve for 30 minutes as Commissioner for Information and Communications in the state.
After receiving the prizes, the overall winner, Sophia Awajibenem Eyitemi, said that she was excited to become overall winner in the competition.
She said she took part in the competition not because of the prizes but because she wanted to be part of the campaign with the hashtag OurStateOurResponsibility.
The state Commissioner for Education, Prof. Kaniye Ebeku and that of Youth Development, Hon Prince Ohia, who were special guests commended the honourable Commissioner for the feat.
Prof. Ebeku said those who were in the state and were seeking to demarket the state were doing injustice to themselves while Hon Prince Ohia said he had had interactions geared towards youth development in the state.
