FOR five days last week, over 1000 students and pupils drawn from schools in Lagos and Ogun States put up artistic performances at the dramatising storytelling competition organised by the National Troupe of Nigeria (NTN).Tagged 'The Dramatised Schools' Storytelling Competition', it had each school at the preliminary stage performing for 30 minutes narrating an African story, through a mix of drama, song and choreography.After the preliminary stage held between May 30 and June 1, in which 50 schools participated, eight schools ' four primary and four secondary schools ' qualified for the finals held on June 5.The eight schools that reached the finals were Tender Star School, Omole, Handmaids International Catholic School, Surulere, Liham Schools, Yaba, and Golden Bells Primary School, Orile-Iganmu, all in Lagos, in the primary category. In the secondary category, the schools were Our Lady of Apostles Secondary School, Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State, Marywood Girls College, Ebutte-Metta, Lagos, Kings College, Lagos and Golden Bells College, Orile-Iganmu, Lagos.Before the performances by the finalists, there was a drama presentation by members of the National Troupe and special instrumental rendition of the National Anthem by Joy of Christian Knowledge School, Kirikiri Town, Lagos.After the judges' evaluation for the primary category, Golden Bells Primary SChool emerged tops claiming the first prize, Liham Schools was adjudged second while Handmainds International Catholic School and Tender Star School came third and fourth respectively.Also in the secondary category, the judges that included Mr. Isreal Eboh and Ms Bikiya Graham Douglas, adjudged Kings College's presentation as the best, while Marywood and Our Lady of Apostle as second and third respectively and Golden Bells was pronounced fourth.In the individual rating, Kola Olanrewaju from Kings College went home as the Best Actor while Peculair Reginald of Our Lady of Apostles, Ogun State smiled home as the Best Actress respectively in the secondary category while Ayomide Isiaka was awarded the Best Actress in primary category.Earlier, a member of the panel of judges, Mr. Israel Eboh had pointed out that the schools would be evaluated based on the clarity of their presentation, the use of stage space, time use and accuracy and then facial expression.One of the students that participated in the preliminary stage but whose school, Western Colloge, Onike-Yaba, did not qualify for the finals, Miss Onyegbunam Uchechukwu, commended the organisers of the competition and the level of professionalism demanded from the schools, describing the competition as a great one. To her, apart from providing a learning ground to many of the participants who watched and participated, the competition brought out the hidden talents in many of the children who were at the programme.Uchechukwu noted, 'This programme brought different talents together and those who needed to learn from those talents learnt from it. I can take my school as an example. We lacked costumes and were not too coordinated and we have learnt our lessons'.The coordinator of the project, who is also the Director of Drama, National Troupe of Nigeria, Mrs. Josephine Igberaese, said the idea was to re-introduce the storytelling tradition and culture to Nigerian children.She stated, 'This is the question that readily comes to the mind of a child. In this age of technology where twitter, facebook, blackberry and other social network applications are available, who wants to listen to a grandmother's tales when you can easily send things to your friends online' Sadly, this is our modern day reality'.She noted that in the past, values, history, music, dance and heroism of various communities were handed down from one generation to the next through stories. By so doing, she said that the communities kept their traditional norms and values in the consciousness of the people.Igberaese noted that it was also through the process of storytelling that children learn about other people's cultures and values, since stories have travelled across time and space and acquired new meanings, having been adapted by various societies to suit their needs.Continuing, she argued, 'The achievements and heroism of different communities are handed down to other communities through itinerant story tellers who moved from place to place and as such stories have become universal as each community retells and embellishes it to suit their needs. The storyteller becomes the first teacher the child encounters as a kindergarten. It is through the storyteller that the child is exposed to early learning. It also links the past to the present and the future.'She, however, prayed that the story telling competition would rekindle the interest of children and youth as it was in the traditional societies so they could serve as building blocks to develop the citizens.
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