Chiamaka Onwuka Wins 2021 African Organisation For Standardisation (ARSO) Essay Competition [Nigeria]

Chiamaka Onwuka has emerged the national winner of the 2021 African Organisation for Standardisation (ARSO) essay competition [Nigeria].

A statement from the office of the Director General, Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), Mallam Farouk Salim named the winners as Chiamaka Onwuka of the University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN) who came tops with 78.08 percent; in second position, Odu Sunday Bancha of the University of Abuja (UNIABUJA) with 77.94 percent and in third position, Chijoke Kennedy of the University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN) with 77.68 percent.

The 2021 ARSO annual essay competition was themed: “The The Role of Standardisation in Promoting, Arts, Culture and Heritage – The Creative Economy in Africa”.

Two others who qualified alongside the three winners to participate in the 2021 Continental competition were Evans-Ibe, Savictor Sobechi of the University of Nigeria Nsukka with 75.68 percent score and Dimowo Ofuje Cosmos of the University of Benin, 73.58 percent, the statement explained.

Congratulating the winners on their efforts at linking standardisation to the growth of the creative economy being driven by African Youths, Mallam Salim commended them for their competitive spirit while urging more Nigerian undergraduates to throw their hats into the ring for subsequent editions.

Mallam Salim promised to ensure increased publicity for the essay competition to encourage more Nigerian youths from all government recognized tertiary institutions in the country to participate in future editions.

The SON Boss also commended members of the inter-ministerial screening committee for a job well done in collating, assessing and scoring all the competitors impartially to arrive at the eventual winners like they have always done since the inception of the competition in 2013.

Forty one (41) essays were received by the Inter-Ministerial Screening committee from 15 Government approved tertiary institutions according to the SON Statement.

Members of the committee include representatives from the Federal Ministries of Education, Health, Women Affairs and Social Development as well as the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development.

Others are the National Universities Commission; Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council, the National Human Rights Commission, Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Offences Commission with the Standards Organisation of Nigeria providing the Secretariat and coordination.

Chiamaka Onwuka, Winner of the 2021 African Organisation For Standardisation (ARSO) Essay Competition [Nigeria] shared her experiences, thoughts and insights with PositiveNaija on June 23, 2021.

Motivation for participating in the competition

Chiamaka Onwuka: One of my greatest motivations to winning the essay is the University of Nigeria Essayist Group (UNEG). This group has successfully produced winning essays for SON for six (6) consecutive years. Therefore, being a member of such a prestigious association, I was driven to give my best.

Factors that helped me win

Chiamaka Onwuka: The major factors that helped me were –
i. Reading the essays of past previous winners to help me sharpen my skills.
ii. Following in details, the criteria and rules as stipulated by ARSO.
iii. The topic was very interesting to write. I was smiling a lot throughout the process of writing the essay.

Relevance of the essay to the Nigerian society

Chiamaka Onwuka: Anyone who reads the essay would see it as a means to educate oneself on the essence of standardization in bringing together the cultural, arts and heritage, which are embodiments of the African society and implementing these standards in order to derive enough benefits. Moreover, the essay was properly referenced, so it enables readers look to other articles to broaden their knowledge. It would be a great feat, if these thoughts and research works being put into writing would be appropriately implemented by various African leaders. Also, virtually all other sectors of the economy will benefit from appropriate standardization.

My essay: Paschaline ARSO Entry 2021