12-year-old girl emerge winner of 2015 Lagos Spelling Bee competition

Twelve-year-old Boluwatife Tijani of Araromi Primary School, Agege, on Wednesday emerged the winner in the 2015 Spelling Bee competition in Lagos State.

Tijani, a Primary Six pupil, competed with 56 other contestants, representing the 20 local government areas and 37 local council development areas in the state in the competition held in Ikeja.


Ten-year-old Iretiola Ifaniyi, a Primary Five pupil of Methodist Primary School, Ibese, came second while 10-year-old Jonathan Arowodu of Akesan Primary School came third.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the winners received N150, 000, N100, 000 and N75, 000 respectively from the state government.

Director-General, Office of Education Quality Assurance, Mrs Ronke Soyombo, said the competition was aimed at developing the innate skills of pupils and students.

Soyombo said the competition had been able to fulfill the ultimate goal of creating healthy rivalry among students as well as drawing out their intellectual capabilities.

She said the agency had already set in motion machinery aimed at improving the quality of education in Lagos.

The Director-General said the competition was the brainchild of Senator Oluremi Tinubu, the founder of New Era Foundation.

“The idea of spelling competition, conceived in 2006 to encourage academic excellence, was adopted by the Lagos State Ministry of Education.

“The competition has helped students/pupils improve on their spelling skills, increase vocabulary and develop correct English usage,’’ she said.

NAN