BLUEPRINT News – [OCI] Foundation rewards Nigerian medical students in literary contest (4/11/22)

[OCI] Foundation rewards Nigerian medical students in literary contest

Source: BluePrint News (04/11/2022)

By Ene Oshaba (Abuja, Nigeria)

An international non-governmental organisation, Onyebuchi Chris Ifediora (OCI) Foundation, has rewarded participants and winners of the 2022 (2nd) Edition of the OCI Foundation-Auwal Shanono Literary Award for Medical Students (LAMS).

In a statement released Friday in Abuja by the organisation, LAMS was made an annual event after the inaugural outing in 2021, when the first edition was held.

According to the statement, the award is in fulfillment of the Foundation’s resolve to support and improve the literary skills of Nigerian doctors-in-training in a national competition being delivered in partnership with the Nigerian Medical Students Association (NiMSA).

NiMSA is the national body that represents all the medical students in Nigeria, and is made up of medical schools from all six geo-political zones in Nigeria.

The statement noted that essays for the 2022 edition were received between August 29, 2022, and September 15, 2022, while the winners were rewarded in a virtual (Zoom) ceremony held on Saturday, October 29, 2022.

Addressing the participants as a guest speaker during the awards ceremony, the Foundation’s president and founder, Chris Ifediora, said the decision to support  LAMS was “borne out of the desire to identify, inspire, and reward Nigerian medical students who show literary dexterity, and to ensure these doctor-to-be obtain the skills they need to become balanced medical practitioners, researchers, and academics.”

He said during his own undergraduate days, he was very active in NiMSA activities, and was an alumnus of the Southeast Zone of the body, having been a prominent member of the Nnamdi Azikiwe University Medical Students Association (NAUMSA).