In praise of St. Louis Girls Secondary School, Akure...

St. Louis Girls’ Secondary School, Akure, Ondo State won the Secondary Schools’ National Theme Project, with “Fruits and Vegetables Preservation Bin”, using local materials including charcoal, jute bags, raffia basket or perforated rubber basket, sand and water. Komolafe Nifemi and Asaolu Doyin, who went home with N150,000 star prize, said the project was based on the principle of evaporation which causes cooling effects at all temperatures.

There was a time when events like JETS, STAN and MOBIL and other sponsored intellectual competitions captured the imagination.

It is a good thing that the essence of these events are beginning to regain some traction.

And it is even more glorious to note that candidates from Ondo state are winning it all as in the full report, found here

The challenge - ultimate challenge - is for the folks in government to connect the spirit of these innovative drive to the needs and necessities of the larger society. 

In the meantime, Big. Congratulations to Messr. Nifemi and Doyin. And the teachers and students of St. Louis Girls.

Posted via email from allondostate's posterous

Another 42 dies....

 Mrs. Ajoke Oloyede, who lost one of her daughters in the crash, was weeping profusely as she spoke with Daily Sun. According to her, many of the pupils’ lives would have been saved but for the absence of adequate medical equipment and staff at the General Hospital, Ore.
The woman’s daughter, Fatimah, was one of those rescued from the scene of the auto crash. Her distraught mother regretted that she watched sadly as her daughter languished in extreme pains before eventually dying at the General Hospital, saying the victims were not given good medical attention.

...“The General Hospital at Ore is a glorified health centre with no basic equipment. For over three hours, I watched my daughter in pains, dying slowly.
“It is not funny that only one doctor called Kazeem was on hand to attend to the accident victims. So tell me, what could one single medical doctor have done in the midst of thirty victims languishing in pains?”

There are some things that define us;  And our hopelessness as a people.

Nowhere are these things magnified than in how we treat ourselves - faced with common doom.Death.

And it gets worse. Our children.

To borrow Nelson's Mandela's wisdom :

"There can be no keener revelation of a society's soul than the way in which it treats its children"

 There is not much to be said.

When you read of the many billions and billions the government - or its caricature, let's be frank - of Nigeria, has wasted in the last few months, and turn around to totally heart-wrenching account of tragedies as reported here the stark reality of Nigeria hits your hard.

Nigeria is officially the globe's biggest jungle. Its depressing. 

....cries....