Fa’izah Atu Muhammad, a young Nigerian woman, has brought honor to her country by winning an essay competition that included participants from all of Africa.
Thirty African nations, including the United Kingdom and India, competed in the competition called the “2023 Youth Leadership Competition” organized by the UONGOZI Institute of Tanzania for young Africans between the ages of 18 and 25.
The young Muhammad was declared the winner this morning in a statement published on the organization’s website, https://uongozi.or.tz/news/announcing-winners-of-youth-leadership-competition-2023/, after she had defeated more than 1,150 other contestants who had also submitted entries for the continental competition.
The topic for the Essay Competition was “If you were an African Leader, how would you promote intra-African trade to unlock Agricultural potentials in Africa?”
This topic was given by the organizers upon which she wrote excellently and came overall winner. Before being chosen as the best among the others, her essay was evaluated by examiners from all over the world.
Innocent Matekere of Tanzania won the title of first runner-up, followed by Sithandweyinkosi Sivela of Zimbabwe in second place, Onwuka Dabeluchukwu Chiemelie of Nigeria in third place, and Manda Nixon of Cameroon in fourth place.
The originality, creativity, language use, and suitability of the context of the theme were the criteria used to judge the essay contest entries.
The representation of the vast array of approaches and suggestions for facilitating intra-African trade in agricultural products was also taken into consideration.
The goal of the competition is to inspire young Africans to freely demonstrate their writing prowess, leadership abilities, and other potentials. The young Fa’izah Atu Muhammad made her country and herself proud by taking home the highly sought-after prize in the fiercely contested competition. The prize for the continental competition was valued at $2,000 (US).
Fa’izah Muhammad, a 22-year-old graduate in law from the University of Ilorin in Nigeria, is a native of the Gulu-Vatsa Community of the Lapai Local Government in the state of Niger. She received a Second Class Honours diploma from the university’s law school in the academic year 2020–2021. (Upper Division)
She thanked Almighty Allah in a conversation with a ThisDay correspondent for giving her the ability and wisdom to win the contest.
Young Nigerians should be proud of their nation and its educational system, she urged while expressing excitement over the award. She insisted that the Nigerian educational system is not as flawed as is being implied.
“Look at me,” she said. The continental essay competition was won by me despite the fact that I have never attended school outside of this nation. I am proud of my home nation of Nigeria and grateful to and proud of my parents for their support and sacrifice in helping me finish school.
On May 25, 2023, in Accra, Ghana, she will receive the award in person at a ceremony hosted by Wamkele Mane, secretary general of the African Continental Free Trade Area Secretariat, and H.E. Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete, former president of Tanzania.
For the required National Youth Service Corps, the young Muhammad has been assigned to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) (NYSC).