Charles Ogwo
A spelling bee is a competition in which contestants are meant to spell a broad selection of words, usually with a varying degree of difficulty. To compete, contestants must memorize the spellings of words as written in dictionaries, and recite them accordingly.
The competition believed to have originated in the United States (US) is fast catching up across the globe. Nigeria is no exception. It was first introduced to Nigeria by Mrs Oluremi Tinubu ( now Senator), a pet project of her New Era Foundation when she was First Lady in Lagos State.
Gradually some other state government started their own completion. There are many other organizers and sponsors of the spelling bee competitions in Nigeria. There are many Spelling Bees competitions in Nigeria such as Indomie Spelling Bee, MTN Spelling Bee, Teammasters Spelling Bee, Ibom International Spelling Bee, and many others. But even though there have been private sector sponsors for these state competitions, there has never been a national Spelling Bee competition.
Now, a national completion is in the offing, courtesy of private sector players and stakeholders in the education sector.
The Nigeria Spelling Bee is organized across many states of the federation with national finalists drawn after qualifying from their respective states and any of the six geo-political zones of the country.
The Nigeria Spelling Bee which is the widest spelling bee competition in the country has so far been conducted in more than 25 states across the country by the organizers (Bee Spelling Competition Initiative) which has been endorsed by the Federal Ministry of Education,, Ministry of Culture and some state Ministries of Education.
Dr Ijeoma Ireh, the South –East Coordinator, Nigeria Spelling Bee, said the competition is enjoying massive support from the Federal Government, unlike what is obtainable from the various state governments.
“While the competition enjoys an official endorsement by the Federal Ministry of Education, the states have not shown much interest in the gamification of education such as the Spelling Bee,” Ireh said.
Love Joshua, the Program Director of Nigeria Spelling Bee, explained that the Nigeria Spelling Bee contest is organized from the state level by the in-house team of programme officers.
“Top Spellers from the State Level will progress to the Regionals, and then to the National Finals”, Ireh stated.
The Regions are South-East, South-West, South-South, North-West, North-Central and North-East.
Each participating state and/or region in the competition has its own organizers and sponsors. However, officers for each participating state and/or region is drawn from the in-house personnel.
Winners of the regional stage progress to the national finals. Contestants compete for the chance to win up to ₦1,000,000 in scholarship and other grand prizes and participation in the annual African Spelling Bee which is a continental event organized by the African Spelling Bee Consortium as the official Nigerian delegates.
The competition is for students in any registered school in Nigeria from the ages of 9 years to 16 years who have to register on the competition’s website. The Nigeria spelling Bee competition is divided into two cardinal categories.
The senior and the junior cadres. These categories are age-based and not ordinarily based on whether the candidate is in Primary, Junior or Senior Secondary school.
The basic eligibility requirements are that a candidate must attend a primary or secondary school in Nigeria. The student may register under his or her school or privately, but must supply his or her school details.
A Nigerian speller has distinguished himself as the best speller in Africa after emerging the Champion in the African Spelling Bee 2017.
Sheriff Muhammad of Kings College, Lagos who was part of the team of spellers representing Nigeria at the African Spelling Bee 2017 held in South Africa spelt his way through to the 7th Round of the contest.
The National Spelling Bee competition is ongoing for the 2021 edition of the Spelling Bee competition for the various states of the federation. The Nigeria spelling Bee competition is divided into two cardinal categories.
Contestants must not have passed SS2 or be writing their UTME, WAEC and/or NECO in the 2021 academic session.
Candidates for the senior category must still be 16 years or below as of November 2021. The minimum age for this category is 13 years; however, this is not a restriction on younger outstanding students.
For the junior category, candidates must still be 13 years or below as of November 2021. The official minimum age for this category is 9 years; however, this is not a restriction on the younger outstanding students.
Parents and schools are advised to register their candidates online and in time to get their Speller ID and download the necessary materials. Note that there will be no refund after payment.
However, it is rather unfortunate that many states of the federation are not maximizing the benefits of the Nigeria Spelling Bee in their states.
Usman Yaya, the Coordinator North –West, while speaking with The Educational Tide, stated that some states in the north have never sent participants to the competition.
“There are states in the North that have never sent participants, for example, Jigawa State”, Yaya said.
In the South-East and South-West, the story seems to be slightly different. For the South –East, Ireh acknowledged that there is widespread participation in all states of the South-South/South-East region.
“There is widespread participation from the South-South/South-East region. The region also boasts of 2 National Senior Champions and 1 Junior Champion”, she stated.
The Educational Tide sought the views of many school managements in the South-West to know their levels of awareness and participation in NSB. Some of them explained their participatory levels, while some others claimed to be ignorant of the participatory date and schedules.
Mr. Olowu Temitope, the Spelling Bee Competition Coordinator, Graceville Schools shared the secret of their success even in the school’s first attempt in Indomie Spelling Bee Competition where they went beyond the second round.
“We organize in-house spelling competition during our literacy week activities. We have done about seven editions or more”, he said.
For Multi-Concept Montessori School, Isheri, the school has participated but in the junior category; there is no special preparation for their candidates as the school already has inculcated spelling drills in their curriculum. Every morning the pupils do a spelling drill.
Rona Kings and Queens Private Schools, Jakande Gate-Oke Afa has been participating in the competition and the school have been collaborating with the organizers in preparing their candidates.
Redwood Academy on its part is not aware of the date and how to go about registry.
In the face of the variety of preparedness, the organizers have sent a framework for participants to follow in preparing for the competition. The strategies to use are first and foremost that candidates must read a lot of good books and expand their vocabulary, then, learn their weekly spelling words, thirdly, candidates are expected to master their best spelling bee style, practice writing words on their own, and finally learn basic spelling strategies and rules.
