The
award, which was given to the young chap by the company on Thursday October 8,
2009, was to mark the 49th National Independence Day anniversary and
to recognize heroes of Nigeria who are still very young and have done something
that is worthy of note in the society. For over one year now Master Ibobo
Chukwudi has been making his school and indeed, Ika nation very proud by his
ingenuity to produce prototype and toy vehicles and robots, even under his
tight academic schedule, as a senior secondary school 2 student and the
laboratory prefect of his school.
Presenting
the letter of award to the young chap at Ika Weekly the newspaper which has
been blowing Ibobo?s trumpet, a representative of NIFFTY Consult, a Lagos-based
marketing research agency which aim is geared towards discovering young talents
including children who have done something spectacular in the past, Mr. Olufemi
Ogunleye said that the award was given to the whiz kid alongside two other
winners by Dufil Prima foods in order to encourage acts of heroism in children
and to make a lasting impact by recognizing, celebrating and awarding children
who have made notable sacrifices in favour of others and the deep rooted belief that in every child lies
what it takes to become great. He explained that one of the winners is a young
boy from Makurdi, Benue State, who, during the plane crash that occoured in
Markurdi in year 2002, alerted the community, which led to a rescue team
getting to the scene of the plane crash. That heroic act, it could be recalled,
was aired on most national media houses during the unfortunate air mishap. The
other, he said, is a 9-year old boy in Lagos State
who braced the situation and jumped into the mucky waters of a swampy part of
Ojodu village in order to rescue a drowning 6-year old girl who fell into the
swamp.
The
letter of award which was brought to Ika Weekly news room stated that a
selection process was conducted by credible judges and noted that Master Ibobo
Chukwudi was nominated, based on some criteria which include, skills displayed,
determination, demonstrated excellence, degree of difficulty of the act and
sacrifice made, degree of risk involved, exceptional courage demonstrated, and
inspirational role model for other kids, future goals and likely impact on
society; and considering the act as one of bravery and heroism. Mr. Ogunleye
said that NIFFTY Consult will be glad to discover more talents in Ika land and
urged parents to encourage their children and wards to do something that will
help lift up the children to shun all forms of social vices, concentrate on
their studies and try to discover their talents, and put them to use.
Also
speaking to Ika Weekly in his office, the Principal, Second Grade, PSG, of Agbor Technical
School, Mr. Nwani, J.I.
said that the whiz kid who is a Mechanical Engineering student of the school is
very hard working. He said that judging from what Ibobo has been doing in the
school, he was made the labolatory prefect, asserting that the award given to
him is well deserved. Mr. Nwani called on other students of the school to
emulate the hard working boy so, that they too will do something great in the
future. He, however, lamented the poor supply of electricity in the school,
which he said, has been militating against the progress of studies and research
activities in the college. He therefore called on the government to do
something fast about it, and also to look into the area of security control, as
the college has not been fenced round, which has led to the encroachment of
some part of the land belonging to the school.
Mr.
Obioma Ibobo, elder brother to the wonder boy, expressed gratitude to the
company that gave the award to his young brother, saying that it will go a long
way in encouraging him to do more. He said that Master Chukwudi who has been
living with him for years, is a quiet boy, obedient and very hard working. He
also thanked Ika Weekly newspaper for their regular report of his
younger brother on the pages of the newspaper; asking God to bless the
management and staff of the newspaper immensely. It could be recalled that the
paper recently published a report, stating that Ibobo Chukwudi was visited by a
United States of America based Ika son Mr. Ofor who is a radiologist. In the
report, it was stated that if the young chap was in a developed country, the
government would not look into his paper qualifications before offering him administrations
into any university of his choice, considering the efforts he has made towards
constructing the prototype vehicles. The whiz kid, Chukwudi appreciated the
kind gesture and promised to make Ika people and the nation proud in his future
career.
Master
Chukwudi Ibobo was given the sum of five hundred thousand Naira (N500, 000.00)
as the third prize of the award, while the 9-year old Wimbley Amaechi was given
the sum of seven hundred and fifty thousand Naira (N750, 000.00). The first
prize of one million Naira (N1,000,000.00) went to Detimbi Chia from Makurd, Benue State.
As at the time of filing this report the three kids were still in Abuja
Sheraton Hotel where they went to receive their prizes and to pay a courtesy
call to the President Umaru Musa Yar?Adua. More reports will be published in
our next edition.
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