Kunle Adelabu
-Winner to get scholarship, become Ayangbure ambassador, other mouth-watering prizes
Participants at the maiden edition of the Ayangbure and the Bee marching into the contest venue during the first stage of the contest.
The maiden edition of the Ayangbure and The Bee Spelling Contest kicked – off on Tuesday, September 27, 2022, with a large turnout from 260 primary schools, religious bodies as well as individual participants across the Ikorodu Division.
According to the organisers, a total of 750 spellers who are between 6 and 10 years old are to engaged in the contest which is holding at the Ayangbure Pavilion, Ayangbure palace, Ikorodu.
Winner of the competition would get a cash prize of N250, 000, scholarship worth N4milion, become an ambassador of the Ayangbure, educational android tablet, corporate endorsement and a weekend family trip to La Campagne Tropicana Beach and Resort in Lagos.
The winner’s school would get a computer set, five star educational facility, N100, 000 cash prize, trophy and medal.
The contest is being organized by Kismet Kiddies Entertainment focusing on education, tourism and agriculture, in conjunction with the Ayangbure palace.
The first stage of the competition, which is Dictation that took place between Tuesday and Wednesday, saw young spellers engaged in 20 – word multiple – choice written test with 75 points at stake for grab. All the participants are to move to the next round.
Second round, which is ‘Oral Contest’, comes up next week when participants would be invited to the stage one after the other to engage in spelling with a correct oral spelling attracting 5 points after which the total scores of each speller would be added to their first round scores.
Any participant with a score less than 80 points is automatically eliminated while others move to the Third Round (Semi Final) which is a single – elimination oral round.
Only 30 participants would qualify from the semi – final to the final which is expected to be witness by His Royal Majesty, Alaiyeluwa (Oba) Engr. Kabir Adewale Shotobi, the Ayangbure of Ikorodu, government functionaries, education managers and other dignitaries.
According to the organisers, the final contest, which is slated to hold at the Ikorodu Ultra – Modern Hall, would start with single – word elimination process with 12 spellers moving to the Championship Words section, the winner will be picked from these 12 participants.
Mr Timidayo Phillips, a serial entrepreneur who runs Kismet Kiddies Entertainment , the organisers of the competition, speaking with THE IMPACT, said that the aim of the competition is to boost Ikorodu’s image and economy and encourage scholarship.
He added that organisers aimed at providing students from both public and private schools and upper and the lower classes, the opportunity to compete on same platform.
“Ayangbure and the Bee was born out of the passion to encourage reading and boost Ikorodu economy”, he said.
“Yes, there are many spelling bee competitions in the country, but this is a unique one. Why it is unique is because it is designed to bridge the gap between the public and private educational sectors.
“The dream of the Ayangbure and the Bee is to allow children of same age to compete in a friendly environment.
“It is also unique from other competitions because, aside the prizes, we are also trying to boost Ikorodu economy, we are trying to set a standard whereby students from Lekki, Ajah and other axis of the state can come to Ikorodu to participate in the competition”.
Phillips also said that the competition would incorporate all the states in the federation with the final in Ikorodu starting from the second edition.
“This competition is not limited to Ikorodu, that is why we call it the biggest in Africa, although, we are limiting this first edition to Ikorodu, but starting from the next edition, we are reaching out to all states across the country. We are going to have all our preliminary in all the states and eventually bring the top five to Ikorodu for the grand finale”, he said.
Speaking on the mentorship aspect of the competition, Phillips said that the idea was introduced to added value to enable the kids to benefit more from the competition.
“For the mentorship aspect of the competition, we don’t just want them to come and participate without taking other things home, that is why we came up with ‘Young Mentors’. The believe is that when young mentors mentored kids, the message is always clear”, he said.
“So, we selected some young boys and girls who are already doing very well and are between 16 and 17 years who are writers, broadcasters and Youtubers, to talk to these children on how they can impact on the community at young age.
“Aside that, we also have other contests alongside the spelling bee competition like photo contest and others”.
