By Aishah Saleeman
Premier International School Abuja (PISA) has won the 2022 edition of the Abuja Literary Teen Art Festival (ALIT-TEENFEST2022).
PISA won the debate competition for the second time in a row.
It was held on Saturday featuring schools in Abuja.
The students of the school clinched the first position after getting 86 points in the final round of the contest.
Glorious Destiny Educational Foundation and Kings Favourite Educational School came first and second runners-up respectively.
One of the representatives of PISA, Oghunegaren Efe-Duru, expressed delight in winning the competition, noting that it was the result of hard work and patience.
The teen poetry slam had two rounds with Joy Olanrewaju emerging as the winner among 20 contestants. The 10-year-old from Glorious Destiny Educational Foundation won the cash prize of N100,000.
The first runner-up, Ogwuche Bella, of Jewel Model School and the second runner-up, Abdulrazak Salihu, won cash prizes of N50,000 and N30,000 respectively.
Joy said she was elated to win the contest. She said, “I was overwhelmed with joy when I was announced the winner. My first round was challenging, with many stops.
“I braced myself for the second round. I’ll like to thank the organisers of the show. Above all, I had a great time.’’
The deputy festival director of Abuja Literary Teen Art Festival (ALIT-TEENFEST22), Ujenyu Joy Sani, said the creative industry can drive national development if harnessed properly.
She said, “We are trying to prove to the world that artists can thrive. The random artist has the potential to be great. The creative economy can bring about a resolution.’’
She added that there are artists putting Nigeria on the global map; “our artists, footballers, actors, singers. It means that we have a very good opportunity to harness the creative economy to drive national development,” she said.
Ujenyu said the ALITFEST is a subsection of the Abuja Literary Society (ALS) and has been in existence for five years now.
She said the purpose of the festival is to encourage artists to pursue their passion and follow their dream, adding that all winners were rewarded with cash prizes and educational materials.
