Emerging as the Chief Speaker for Elepe Senior High School in the recently concluded Ikorodu Division Inter-School Debate Competition held on Wednesday October 9th, 2024, kakalistiq.com reports that Onah Grace’s path to victory was anything but predictable.
A final year student in SS3, Grace shared her emotional journey from almost giving up on academics to becoming the debate champion at the Annual Inter-School Debate Competition in Public Secondary Schools in Ikorodu Division at the LASUATECH Staff Cooperative Evens Center, Lagos.
“I feel very excited to win because it wasn’t something I planned for,” Grace revealed. “My teacher just called me and said, ‘There’s this debate and we feel you can do it,’ and I was like… well, I had kind of given up on school because I’ve been focusing on athletics now.”
Grace, who once won the title of Best Mathematics Student in District II during her primary school years, explained that a series of challenges made her lose faith in academics. “Things kept coming up, and I just felt like school nah scam,” she admitted, using a popular Nigerian phrase to describe her frustrations. “But my teachers believed in me, and I thought, okay, maybe I could do this.”
As she advanced through the debate rounds, making it to the semi-finals and then the finals, Grace said she decided to give her all. “I had to put in my best, and I did. My teachers were really supportive, they took me and my supporting speaker all the way.”
Reflecting on her journey, Grace expressed deep gratitude to God and her mother. “Most especially, I want to give God all the glory. And my mum too, when I felt like school nah scam and I wasn’t studying, she’d say, ‘Just do enough, not for the world, but for yourself. It’s you that will gain, it’s you that will be enlightened.’ So, a big shout-out to my mum. Thank you, ma.”
Grace also shared some advice for her peers, offering a realistic perspective on success. “Everyone wants to blow, like they say in Nigeria, but the thing is, you need something to blow with,” she said. “You can’t just be known for nothing. You have to give something to the world, and that takes building yourself, believing in yourself, and knowing that, in the long run, something will come out of it.”
The champions, Grace Onah and Temiloluwa Odutola from Elepe Community Senior High School, Ikorodu, supported the motion that “The woman is the major cause of domestic violence and not the man,” while the first runners-up, Adekoya Farida Ogooluwa and Olutoki Oyinkansola Grace from Government Senior Model College, Owutu Ikorodu, opposed the same topic. The second runners-up, Kevin Emmanuella and Fadiya Adedeji from Ipakodo Senior Grammar School, opposed the motion that “Nationwide protest is a preferable option to dialogue in addressing national issues.”
With her unexpected triumph at the debate, Grace has proven that perseverance and self-belief can indeed change the course of one’s life, both in and out of the classroom.
