The organisers of Nigeria’s Spelling Bee have fixed 3rd and 4th November 2021 for the national finals of the competition.
The organisers have sent a congratulatory message to all qualified candidates and their regions for making it to the national finals.
“Congratulations on your spellers qualifying for the national finals of the Nigeria Spelling Bee”, the statement read.
According to information from www.nigeriaspellingbee.com the organising body has fixed the arrival date for participants for Sunday, October 31, while contestants will lock horns on November 1 and 2 to determine who makes it to the grand finale.
The national grand finale will be held on Wednesday, November 3, and Thursday, November 4 will be the departure date.
The 2021 Nigeria Spelling Bee, the national final is billed to be held at Divine Rays British School, 5 Ajegbo Road, Obosi-Onitsha in Anambra State.
The Nigeria Spelling Bee is organized across many states of the federation with national finalists drawn after qualifying from their respective states and any of the six geo-political zones of the country.
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The Nigeria Spelling Bee is the widest spelling bee competition in the country that has so far been conducted in more than 25 states across Nigeria.
It is a product of Bee Spelling Competition Initiative, a registered Non-Governmental Organization with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), and endorsed by the Federal Ministry of Education to conduct the competition nationally and represent Nigeria at International Spelling Bee Competitions.
According to Ijeoma Ireh, the South-South/South-East coordinator, Nigeria Spelling Bee competition is enjoying massive support from the Federal government unlike most of the state governments.
“While the competition enjoys an official endorsement by the Federal Ministry of Education, the states have not shown much interest in the gamification of education such as the Spelling Bee”, Ireh said.
Love Joshua, Program Director, Nigeria Spelling Bee explained that the competition is organized from the state level by the in-house team of programme officers.
“Top spellers from the state level will progress to the regionals, and then to the national finals”, Joshua said.
The regions are South-East, South-West, South-South, North-West, North-Central, and North-East.
Contestants compete for the chance to win up to N1million in scholarship grand prize and participation in the annual African Spelling Bee is a continental event organized by the African Spelling Bee Consortium as the official Nigerian delegate.
The competition is for students in any registered school in Nigeria from the ages of 9 years to 16 years.
The organizers of Nigeria Spelling Bee are worried about the common mistakes students make and even writers in the usage of English words and the three major Nigerian languages.
According to Usman Yaya, the coordinator North-West, the reason for organizing spelling competitions among Nigerian school students is to promote accurate spelling of the commonly used words and improve the knowledge of students.
“The philosophy behind the competition is to contribute to the education of the entire youths of Nigeria”, Yaya said.
A Nigerian speller, Sheriff Muhammad of Kings College, Lagos distinguished himself as the best speller in Africa in 2017.
Odutola Dolapo and Grace Idowu emerged as the 2019 national champions for senior and junior categories respectively and both are from Montclair College, Ogun State.
