The Christ the King College, Onitsha, Anambra State, has celebrated some students of the college for winning the World Affairs Challenge competition recently held in Denver, Colorado, in the United States of America.
The World Affairs Challenge, organised by WorldDenver, empowers high school students to develop innovative solutions for the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. This year, the students tackled critical issues like climate change, poverty, and inequality.
The students, christened the “Golden boys” emerged winners in the competition for achieving a rare feat by impressing the judges with their impactful project, “Wise Tales by Primus”, a captivating series of digital comic stories which addressed environmental degradation, climate change and substance abuse to raise awareness and inspiring change among young people.
The students, Ekufu Ernest, Obuna Tochukwu, Umeodinka Emmanuel, Ejike Ekene and Ubah Jason, coached by John Onuigbo, defeated the US and Turkey after beating the African Regional Champions to emerge world champions in April 2024.
Speaking during the reception held in their honour at the CKC school in Onitsha, on Friday, the state Commissioner for Education, Prof. Ngozi Chuma-Udeh, said the students have inspired her and every other person with their achievement at the world championship.
Chuma-Udeh, who represented the state governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, said the students deserved commendation for making the state and Nigeria at large proud through the feat.
The commissioner noted that Christ the King College Onitsha is one of the best secondary schools in Nigeria.
She said, “On behalf of Mr Governor, we congratulate and celebrate the devotion, consistency and unwavering excellence, a brighter future, and children who are going to take us to the promised land. We are here to celebrate the brightest and greatest.
“Amidst Nigeria’s numerous woes, I see light at the middle of the tunnel. Our future is no longer a mirage. I also see solutions to our environment with this crop of students. You have all inspired not just me, but the whole of Anambra people and Nigeria.”
The chairman of Anambra State Universal Basic Education Board, Dr. Vera Nwadinobi, commended the school, particularly the principal, who she described as passionate, especially about mentoring young minds.
On her part, the chairman of the Post Primary School.
Service Commission, Prof. Nkechi Ikediugwu, praised the school for setting the pace for others, saying, “We are proud of you for defeating the US, Turkey and other countries that participated in the tournament.”
Earlier, the Principal of CKC, Rev. Fr. Celestine Okafor, described the feat recorded by the students as an invitation to the path of impactful education.
“This is a competition that challenges you to know the issues, think through them and find a practical solution by developing a project. And this is not the end of it; you have to market the ideas to others so they can use your solution to solve the problem which affects us all.
“Anambra has always been a vanguard in Nigeria education, and I’m confident that innovative and solution-oriented education will come from Anambra to Nigeria and the rest of Sub-Saharan Africa,” he added.
