Kellogg Tolaram Nigeria, makers of the leading Nigerian breakfast cereal, left no stone unturned when it hosted the winners of the “Kellogg’s Super Star Essay Competition” organized across three states to Lagos along with their parents/ guardians, teachers amongst others to officially celebrate them for their remarkable performance in the competition.

During the ceremony, the Kellogg’s brand got enormous accolades from the Lagos Ministry of Education, National Association of Private Schools (NAPPS), Lagos State Chapter, and from a Honourable House of Assembly Member who were ably present, for contributing immensely to the educational growth of the Nigerian child.

According to the statement made by the Director General, Lagos Ministry of Education, Mrs. Ronke Soyombo, she said “I want to specifically pour encomium on the directors of Kellogg’s Tolaram, imbued with rare foresight aimed particularly at making the whole child, by not just rewarding pupils through scholarships but by also investing heavily in educational infrastructure, educational partnerships, literacy commitmentand all other primary needs that ensures brighter opportunities for the Nigerian child”.

“It is crystal clear that Kellogg’s Superstars essay competition and reward initiative was borne out of passion and will no doubt contribute to the ever-expanding educational status of Lagos State and Nigeria” Soyombo stated.

Kellogg’s Super Stars contest is a school-based essay writing competition designed for primary school pupils to sharpen their writing skills while also bringing out the creative uniqueness in them.

The Contest which began in March 2019 reached out to more than 1.8 million pupils at approximately 12,000 schools across Rivers, Lagos and Oyo State; these students were tasked to exhibit their writing talent on the topic “what makes you a Kellogg’s superstar”, after which 50 outstanding pupils emerged.

The major highlight of the ceremony was when the young Kellogg’s super Stars read through their essays to the audience which comprised of the parents, representatives of their schools, representatives of the Ministry of education, National Association of Private Schools and the Press, a honourable member of the Federal house of Representatives.

Hon. Mrs. Tolu Akande- Sadipe, Honourable House of Assembly Member said according to UNICEF, one in every five of the world’s out-of-school children is in Nigeria, even though primary education is officially free and compulsory, about 10 .5 million of the country’s children aged 5- 14years are not in school and only 61% of 6-11 year olds regularly attend primary school.

She however explained some of the solutions would be for government, private organisations and individuals to all come together to ensure free early childhood education (Nursey and Primary level) for the underprivileged children, promotion of scholarship programs while also training and improve teachers’ welfare. “Kudos to the management of Kellogg Tolaram for this scholarship program and its numerous other investments on educational growth” she said.

Also speaking at the event was the president, National Association Of Private Schools (NAPPS), Lagos State Chapter, Mr. Wasiu Adumadeyin, who equally confirmed  that the impact is certainly far reaching on the economy when corporate organizations get involved in educational support especially at this elementary stage where foundation becomes undeniably important.

According to the General Manager, Kellogg Tolaram, Mrs. Vani Malik, who spoke on the premise of the speech delivered by the Honourable House of Assembly Member, Hon. Mrs. Tolu Akande- Sadipe presently the society is still battling with the challenge of a substantial population of primary school pupils who are out of school, Vani however, confirmed this challenge was one the major rationale which brought about the concept of the Kellogg’s Super Stars scholarship by way of the brand contributing its quota to the economic growth of Nigeria.

“Kellogg’s Super Stars programme follows a holistic developmental approach, which begins with making sure children have the best start to their day by getting a complete breakfast option through Kellogg’s various cereal variants while also encouraging them to identify and improve their inherent academic skills in the area of writing” she stated.