14th October, 2011
Ships and Ports Communication Company Limited has called for entries for this year’s edition of the Annual National Essay Competition. This year, participants are expected to write on the theme: “Role of Information Technology in Enhancing Productivity in the Maritime Industry”. Entries for the competition, according to the Chief Executive Officer of Ships & Ports Communication Company, Mr. Bolaji Akinola, will open on 5 October and close on 25 November, 2011.
The prizes for this year’s competition include prize for best overall essay, prize for creativity, prize for originality and prize for research and cash prizes for five other outstanding essays. Akinola explained that the competition from inception in 2007, is to encourage the average Nigerian to think aloud about the maritime industry and deepen his or her knowledge of operations in the industry.
“In its fifth year, the Ships and Ports Annual National Essay Competition has come of age. The objectives have remained the same over the years which include making people to spare some thoughts for the shipping sector and make intellectual contribution to its growth and development.
The annual competition is in pursuit of our commitment to enable Nigerians appreciate the potential in the nation’s maritime sector and ruminate over its importance to their means of livelihood and well-beingâ€, Akinola stated.
In the maiden edition of the competition, in the last quarter of 2007, a Naval officer, Lieutenant Commander Atakpa Sunday Daniel, emerged winner, taking home the N100, 000 Dangote Port Operations/ Genesis Worldwide Shipping Prize for Best Overall Essay. Mr. Adewale Opeyemi, then a Master’s degree student at the Federal University of Technology, Minna, Niger State, emerged winner of the 2008 edition, smiling home with the same prize money donated by Dangote Port Operations. A Lagos-based lawyer, Mr. Felix Ifeanyi Ejike-Ume, emerged the winner of the 2009 edition.