Victor Oladejo and Emmanuel Oluka have won the N20,000 cash price for week 27.
In Black Tuesday Victor weaved the story better than others and the end was not anticlimactic like a couple of the other writers. The people who wrote about being adopted did not weave a story around the news about their adoption.
Rather, they merely mentioned it rather passively.
Reading the story as Victor took us back and forth, you could see the flow of events and totally imagine the journey with the characters in the bus and conversations they had-Adelaja, Maria, Mallam Aliyu, and his smelly goat.
The first paragraph of the story is captivating and the tempo did not drop throughout the story, with an equally riveting conclusion. Congrats Victor, you have been our most consistent writer from day one.
In Lifting The Veil On Isa Pantami Oluka started with a creative portrayal of recent events with a mix of confusing soundbites by government officials and popular slogans. He then introduced the topic with a good background to bring the reader up to speed. The main body of the essay was also well structured into easily comprehensible parts leading to a conclusion that left the reader with no doubt about the writer’s opinion. A well written essay that would have been excellent with some references. Congrats Emmanuel, we already know what you can do.
Feedback:
A Trip To Forever by Roselyn Sho-Olajide.
The NYSC story by Roselyn is one well-woven and makes for a fun read.
The mischief of the Youths on the journey to Katsina, the rickety bus, and the stressful journey made the essay very interesting.
Who wouldn’t love a love story that started at the NYSC Camp?
Hammered by Ebube Ezeadum.
Ebube painted a picture of a close-knit family and siblings who teased and pranked one another. I love the way he described his family and the characters therein, so much so that you’d feel you know them. It made for an interesting read, but the news about the adoption could have taken center stage in line with the topic. However, I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. It painted a happy picture in my mind.
Enroute by Peace Habila.
As usual Peace delivered a well written prose. Her descriptive prowess laced with beatiful metaphors lit up the entire essay and vividly brought every scene to life. I was blown away with the “offensive fragrance.. strong enough to cause a miscarriage”. Her grammar and syntax were flawless. A very good essay from a very good writer and could have carried the day if the conclusion had been more dramatic.
Fog On A Monday Morning.
In this aptly titled piece, Johnson animated the usual daily struggle of an average Lagos commuter using Mushin as the location. In his usual manner the writer creatively narrated the story in simple and comprehensible english. The catch in this topic however, is the ability to weave a tale backward to the beginning and though Johnson attempted to do this with a prologue this would have been an excellent essay if the sequence of events rolled backwards.
The other essays were equally good and we had new writers who didn’t follow the rules so their essays were not published. If you have to write you must learn to read and follow simple instructions.
Congratulations to all our writers and thanks to the audience and judges.
