PHOTOS: 16-Year-Old Girl Emerges Lagos State One-Day Governor

Sixteen-year-old, Bukola Zoffun, who emerged One-Day Governor yesterday in Lagos state, has said that her tenure will be use to champion the course for girl child education in the state.

Miss Zoffun, a senior secondary school pupil of Awodi-Ora Secondary High School Ajegunle, Ajeromi-Ifelodun Local Government Area yesterday won the grand finale of this year’s Spelling Bee competition, organised by the Ministry of Education.

She told our reporter that the road to the victory was not easy, saying “I have put in my best effort to have been selected at the preliminary level and here I am today a proud winner.”

The One-Day Governor, who desires to be a lawyer, said the exposure she has gotten from the competition will help realise her dream.

“I am very happy to be part of this competition, and I can tell you that this has given me great exposure that will help me to achieve my dream of becoming a lawyer.

“As the winner of the competition, I will have the opportunity to be the One-Day Governor, and I will equally use this platform to promote the need for girl child education, because what I have learnt so far is that every child has a right to education.”

She praised her teachers for helping to prepare her and other pupils from her school that participated, saying that the participants have gone through vigorous training in the last six months.




Lagos State Deputy Governor Dr Idiat Adebule said the competition is getting better each year due to the effort of the teachers and the government’s investment in the education.

Represented by the Chairman, Lagos State House of Assembly Committee on Education, Mr Lanre Ogunyemi, Mrs Adebule hailed the courage and boldness exhibited by the participants.

She said the government will introduce more curriculums to improve their learning standard, adding that government will not relent in its effort to reposition educational standard.

Tutor General/Permanent Secretary Education District V, Mrs Anike Adekanye, lauded the state government for the initiative which she said has assisted public schools’ pupils.

She said the teachers and staff of the school work so heard with the pupils, adding that the effort of their hard work has paid off with two of the students from the district wining the first and second positions.

While the winner of the competition will be crown One-Day Governor as well as a cheque of N250,000, the first and second runners-up – Miss Rosemary Ogidan of Methodist Senior High School, Badagry and Master Philip Daniel of Yewa Senior High school, Agege – got cash prizes of N150,000 and N100,000 respectively.