Corona School students win National History Competition

• Get Cash Prize, Foreign Scholarships

With the quality of its graduates and the several awards won by the students, it is clear that Corona Secondary School (CSS), Agbara, Ogun State, is daily living up to its vision of producing well-rounded and well-equipped students for continuous learning and leadership.

Sustaining its vision over years, the institution has recorded many outstanding feats and it was not a surprise that three of its students bagged the Council of British International Schools (COBIS) awards. They won the National History Awards (NHA) with one being the overall best and another winning the Association for International Schools award respectively.

The award presentation held at the school premises on Monday, May 10, 2021, had in attendance the Principal, Mrs. Chinedum Oluwadamilola, teachers, organisers of the awards and students. 

In her address, Mrs. Oluwadamilola noted that the students have made the school proud of their success, adding that the school has always provided a good platform for its students to achieve brilliant academic results.

She said: “We have been participating in the National History competition for the past six years and at various levels, we have won. We have been winners in the senior and junior categories, but this is the first time we are combining both at the national level with one of our students being the overall winner, scoring 100 per cent.

“The other awards are AISA, which many international schools belong to. Every year, AISA rewards students across the continent for excellence and we have always registered for that competition. For the first time, we won an award for excellence and for the second time we won again.

“COBIS award cuts across various nations of the world. COBIS award is not just for academic performance, but also on how students have impacted lives within and outside their communities. The award is in six categories and each school is to register only in three categories. We went in for three and we won the three.”

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, final year students are yet to write their WAEC exams, while the three COBIS winners from CSS already have been offered admissions in about 15 international universities with scholarships. The scholarships are worth over two million dollars.
 
Oluwadamilola said: “What we do in Corona Secondary School is to give the students the enabling environment so that they can be the best in whatever they are doing. We do not only read here, we do all social activities because that is the totality of human being and with that, it brings up abilities. Let us learn to encourage our children to be the best in every way. People that are in the position to make and enforce the laws should give our children the enabling environment.”

In his commendations, Coordinator, National History Competitions, Mr. James Onimisi said the students of CSS are teachable students with hardworking teachers.
 
“We are here to celebrate our students in the just concluded history award. As we have seen, the overall best student is not offering history. We are advocating that history should be compulsory for all students. I encourage other schools to take advantage of this completion because it will help the student to know their history and encourage nation-building,” he said.

The Head Prefect, Master Jay Esemudje, who doubles as the recipient of COBIS award and only student awarded the AISA award in Africa with over 600,000 dollars’ worth of scholarship, appreciated the school for its support.

He said: “The AISA awards came as a surprise and it is an honour to have been picked among the students all over the continent. AISA award maps out Africa on the global map. It is about the tenacity of the students and the passion we have as students to develop our community. And when I say community, I mean the country at large. It is an honour to be a recipient and truly, I did not see this coming; I just kept doing what I know how to do best.”

Another COBIS award recipient, Miss Tamara Akika said life has given her enough and all she wanted was to give back, which eventually earned her an award.

“I believe I won because of my impact in my community and I am very passionate about helping people and putting smiles on their faces. I have developed a lot of projects, which were of significant benefit to the larger society. I also believe that this award is a motivation for people to do the best they can as individuals in the community,” she said.

The third COBIS award recipient, Master Kenechukwu Ozoemene, said: “The award was for the outstanding efforts in activities done in my extra-curricular activities and also improving on my grades and the number of things I have done in the school community. I sincerely did not see this coming; I was quite surprised when I heard my name among the recipients. My simple message is that if something you want does not exist, then make it happen.”

The overall winner of the National History Award, Miss Oyindoubra Akika, said preparing for the competition was not easy, as she does not know anything about history, but with the help of her teachers, she was able to perform better than she expected.

Another recipient, Miss Toluwanimi Sonuga, said: “I am excited about the award, which is a reward of hard work. I almost saw this coming because I felt we would win because my school has been a winner at all times.”