Finalists emerge in MTN Foundation’s quiz contest seeking to end substance abuse

Finalists have emerged in the 2023 version of MTN Foundation’s quiz competition for secondary schools focused on ending substance abuse in Nigeria.

The 2023 MTN Anti-Substance Abuse Programme (ASAP) quiz has seen six secondary schools emerge as finalists in the ultimate decider to be held physically on Friday, June 23 in Abuja.

PTA/NADP International College, Lafia, Nasarawa State; Girls’ Secondary School, Abakpa-Nike, Enugu, Enugu State, and Girls Secondary School, Yola, Adamawa State qualified in the first elimination stage held on Tuesday, May 6, 2023.

Katsina College, Katsina, Olivet Baptist High School, Oyo and Anglican Girls Grammar School, Benin-City emerged from the second elimination stage held on Wednesday, June 7, 2023.

Both elimination rounds were held virtually with students who joined from their various schools across the country.

The finalists will proceed to Abuja where they will compete against each other before the ultimate winner of the MTN – ASAP 2023 quiz competition will emerge.

This year’s quiz has been quite competitive. In the first elimination stage, the competition was so fierce that Girls’ Secondary School, Yola and Queens College, Enugu were tied consecutively before Girls’ Secondary School, Yola eventually won the battle.

The Foundation revealed that overall, 18 schools were selected for the competition. All the 18 schools were public secondary schools selected by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) and United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes (UNODC). The selection criteria, the Foundation disclosed, were schools from the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria with a prevalence of high rate of substance abuse.

READ ALSO:Nigeria has an $82 billion healthcare gap; MTN Foundation is trying to change that

The officials of the quiz competition included Ngozi Madubuike as first moderator, Adewumi Abimbola as second moderator, and Chigbu Odoemelem as the judge. They are all from the NDLEA.

Ngozi Madubuike, who spoke to the students, raised their awareness as to the goal of the competition which she said was to provide enlightenment on the dangers of substance abuse, and enlist partners in its fight. She encouraged them to see the competition as an opportunity to develop the capacity to become advocates and champions against substance abuse, and not merely see it as a contest to be won by all means.

Since its launch in 2019, the ASAP programme has been committed to reducing the rate of first-time drug and substance use among Nigerian youths aged between 10 and 25.

In the 2022 quiz, Funtaj International Schools, Abuja emerged winners. The trio of Ramat Sakman, Oluwatoyinsola Adeyemi and Ataba Shehu emerged champions in both the first and second rounds of the competition.

ASAP is executed by the MTN Foundation in collaboration with local and international partners including the UNODC, NDLEA, and the federal and state ministries of health and education.

Since its founding in 2004, the MTN Foundation reports that it has invested over 25 billion Naira across multiple programmes impacting thousands of communities in Nigeria.

The MTN ASAP quiz programme, which is to raise awareness on drug abuse among young Nigerians and promote a drug-free lifestyle, is one of many social intervention initiatives from the stable of MTN Foundation.

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now