OVH Energy Marketing, licensee of the Oando retail brand has concluded its cross regional Teens Can Cook competition. The O-Gas Teens Can Cook competition, is part of the leading oil retailer’s clean cooking initiatives to create awareness on the health, environmental and socio-economic benefits of adopting the use of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) in both domestic and industrial cooking.
The grand finale, supported by the Nigerian Bottling Company(NBC), was held at the University of Lagos multi-purpose hall and saw guests and eight shortlisted schools gather together to witness the results of a year of passion, hard work and rigorous dedication displayed by the students. The 2016/2017 edition of the O-Gas Teens Can Cook competition kicked off with 40 schools from 4 geopolitical regions across Nigeria namely Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt and Benin City.
Commenting on the O-Gas Teens Can Cook initiative, Mrs. Olaposi Williams, Acting CEO of OVH Energy Marketing stated “Our aim is to enlighten the future generation at an early age on the myriads of health and environmental benefits of LPG, and we wanted to do this by involving the teenagers in activities which would be educative as well as entertaining”. Olaposi applauded the efforts of the participating schools noting that the skill, intelligence and zeal displayed by the teenagers was very inspiring and commendable.
The contestants at the cooking competition were challenged to prepare one of Nigerians favorite dishes, Fried rice and Chicken within 45 minutes. Participants were judged on preparation, taste, presentation/creativity and cleanliness of the food. Amongst the judges was the founder and head chef of Red Dish culinary school, Chef Stone, National Account Director Nigerian Bottling Company, Mrs Adeyanju Olomola and CEO and Certified Nutritionist, Rubs and sauces, Mrs. Yemi Adeosun.
After an aromatic battle, Emmanuella Walison from Niger Delta Science School came out victorious as the winner of the 2016/2017 O-Gas Teens Can Cook competition. Commenting on the win, Emmanuella expressed her happiness saying “I never dreamt of the opportunity to show my cooking talent in a big competition like this but OVH Energy Marketing made it possible. Cooking is my passion and winning is the icing on the cake. “
Whilst the cooking competition was under way, the grand finale also featured a fiercely contested debate competition themed “Cooking Gas: An Enabler for Environmental Sustainability”. The competition tasked the critical and analytical thinking of the teenage debaters, who advocated on the invaluable benefits on the use of LPG as a cleaner cooking fuel option.
Judged by the President, Nigeria Liquefied Petroleum Gas Association, Dayo Adesina; Facilities Manager, OVH Energy Marketing, Mr Akingbogun Akinkunmi, and GM Legal and Company Secretary OVH Energy Marketing, Mrs. Adaeze Nwakobi the debate ended with Ugoaja Chizobam from Jesuit Memorial College Port Harcourt taking home the first place prize.
In her closing remarks, Mrs Olaposi Williams explained that these initiatives form part of OVH Energy Marketing’s plan to support the millennium development goal of ensuring environmental sustainability, by educating people on the hazards of their chosen methods of cooking but most importantly the undeniable benefits of LPG over these cooking methods. Mrs. Williams also cited the OVH Energy Marketing NYSC Inter-Platoon cooking and debate competitions, Bukka Kitchen Switch as amongst other initiatives to proliferate the adoption of LPG in Nigeria.
