A 12-year old pupil of Gateway Schools, Enugu, Ugbomyke Ebubechukwu, has emerged the overall winner of the first edition of Heirs Life Essay Championship.

A statement said he emerged winner at the Heirs Life Essay Championship award ceremony in Enugu State.

The nationwide competition was organised by Heirs Life Assurance, with over 1,000 pupils submitting entries from across the country.

It stated that the overall winner, Princewill presented a brand-new laptop, the prize for the first place, and his school, Gateway Schools, represented by the proprietress, Dr. Loveline Ndu, received the Heirs Life Essay Championship cup and N500,000 worth of books and other educational materials at the event.

Participating students were tasked to submit a 500-word essay on the topic, ‘If I were the president of Nigeria’. Over 1,000 entries received were graded by a team of experts under the leadership of a notable professor of English language, followed by a selection interview for further quality assurance.

Other winners include Purity Chetachi, a Basic 5 pupil of Star of Hope School, Lagos, who emerged first runner up and won a cash prize of N100,000 and Abidoye Habeeb, a JSS 2 student of Mivara Secondary School, Lagos, who won third place with a cash prize of N50,000.

According to the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Heirs Life Assurance Limited, Niyi Onifade, said, “All the students who participated in this competition are winners. However, we can only award a few of them.

“Indeed, the quality of essays that we received from these amazing students was fascinating and the winner, Princewill Ugbomyke, expressed himself in such a remarkable way that one could easily visualise his dreams for our country. We congratulate Princewill, his school, and the other finalists, and wish all of them a very bright future.”

While speaking on behalf of the star prize winner, Ugbomyke Ebubechukwu, his parents, Mr and Mrs Ebubechukwu, appreciated Heirs Life for its initiative and the opportunity given to students to compete in an educative and cordial manner.

They also wished the management of Heirs Life greater successes in their future endeavours.