Rep. Jeremiah Umaru (APC-Nasarawa) awarded ₦10.6 million in cash prizes to winners of a debate competition involving 35 secondary schools from his constituency on Saturday.
In addition to the main awards, Umaru provided ₦200,000 and educational materials to each of the remaining 32 participating schools.
The debate was organized to promote quality education in the Akwanga/Nasarawa-Eggon/Wamba Federal Constituency. Umaru praised the students for their confidence and intellectual performance and pledged to make the debate an annual event to foster networking and expose students to best practices in public speaking.
Command Science Technical Secondary School, Rinze, Akwanga, was crowned the overall winner and received ₦1 million and five laptops. Baptist Academy, Wamba, and Shepherd International College Akwanga secured the first and second runner-up positions, receiving ₦700,000 with three laptops and ₦500,000 with two laptops, respectively.
Additional prizes included ₦500,000 and one laptop for the best speaker, ₦250,000 and one laptop for the second-best speaker, and ₦150,000 and one laptop for the third-best speaker.