By Maikudi Muhammad Marafa
Kano State Primary Health Care Management Board (KSPHCMB) in Collaboration with the the National Orientation Agency (NOA) and UNICEF has set up a 5 member Panel of judges for the conduct of An Essay Writing Competition on COVID-19 Vaccination among Students of Tertiary Institutions in Kano, Katsina and Jigawa States.
The Chairman Panel of Judges for the Essay Writing Competition Dr. Imam Wada Bello, indicated that the health sector recognizes the contribution of youths hence it is always looking out for how to utilize them to promote public health and primary health care systems.
Bello who is also the Director Disease Control and Epidemiology, KSPHCMB said that is why the primary health care Management Board and agencies of many countries and states, partner with health and development-focused organizations such as the United Nations Children’s Fund ( UNICEF), World Health Organisation (WHO) and several others to develop innovative ways to address primary health care challenges.
The Panel Chairman further highlighted on the criteria and eligiblity for participation in the competition to include: Interested competitor must be an undergraduate student of any tertiary institution in Jigawa, Kano or Katsina and Must be within the age of 18-30 years and must provide evidence that he or she is an undergraduate.
The Prizes to be won according to the Panel chairman consisted of N150,000 for the first winner, Second prize winner will go with N100,000, third winner will get N50,000 while 10 runners up will be selected to receive N30,000 each.
In his Respond, The Representatives of UNICEF in Kano Rahama Rihod Mohammed Farah represented by Dr. Ogu Enemaku UNICEF Chief Field officer stated that, the Competition was aimed at drawing youths into the mainstream of idea generation for accelerated mass vaccination against COVID-19 in Kano, Katsina and Jigawa States.
He added that,” Worldwide, the strength, energy, creativity and dynamism of the youth are celebrated, so we want not only to celebrate but use the youth to promote COVID-19 mass vaccination.
In his Closing remark, the Director NOA Kano State Alhaji Lawan Haruna urged the panel of judges to be fair and unbiased in discharging their duties.
The Competition is opened to all youths between the ages of 18 and 30 years attending institutions of higher learning in Kano, Katsina and Jigawa State commencing from 15th September, 2022 and closes on 6th October, 2022.