Queens College wins 2020 Eloquence Cup

Queens College Yaba has won the 2021 edition of the School of Eloquence annual Eloquence Cup competition for senior secondary schools in Lagos State.

Having witnessed a year break due to the pandemic, the competition, which is usually between two schools, returned to accommodate ten schools this year.

The government-owned girls’ secondary school, which was the defending champion of the competition, defeated nine other secondary schools drawn from different parts of the state to retain the cup which they won in the 2019 edition.

In the individual category, Esther Eze and Oluwakemi Lawal of the Queens College, Yaba, Lagos, bagged the first and second positions, while the third prize was won by Ude Arinze Goodluck of Kings College Lagos.

The first prize winner, Esther Eze, smiled home with a laptop and the second prize winner a tablet, while the third was rewarded with exotic stationery and a school bag.

Similarly, the first Breakout speaker, Adjete Happiness of Dairy Farm Senior Secondary School Agege, got cash reward of N25, 000, while the second Breakout Speaker was Samuel Bakare of the State Senior High School, Oyewole, Agege, who also got a reward of N15,000 cash.

Announcing the awards to the winners, the founder of the school, Mr Ubong Essien, lauded the performance of the nine participating schools saying, “Our young men and women here today have given us hope that in the next 15 to 20 years, our democracy would have become deepened with our House of Representatives and Senate being driven by quality and robust dialogues.

While noting that the contest coincided with the 15th anniversary of the School of Eloquence, Essien added that “in the last 15 years, we have done a fantastic job of teaching the art of public speaking in secondary schools.”

“Our aspiration is for it to go national. So don’t be surprised that in 2023 you may have the Eloquence Cup both in Lagos and Abuja,” the founder said.

Earlier in her opening remarks, the registrar of the School, Mrs Patience Essien, said that the school had grown from strength to strength in the last 15 years of its existence.

Before the face-off for the Eloquence Cup began, the alumni of the school educated the students on career, attitude, protection of the girl-child and the need for students to imbibe the reading culture.

A chartered accountant and director in the Lagos State Civil Service, Mrs Bawa Allah Folajimi took the students on a career guide, while a maritime entrepreneur, Mrs Sarah Roberts discussed the issues surrounding the uplift of the girl-child at the programme.