The New Man Movement has officially announced winners of her 2019 Gospel Writing Contest in a press release via her website and made available to our correspondent.
The annual Gospel Writing Contest which received entries all over Nigeria from July to October 2019 released her shortlist late last year and has now, according to the release, announced as winners, Adeniran Adeleke, Adewonuola Ifeoluwa Esther and Edechukwu Matthais who emerged as first, second and third place prize winners respectively in the 2019 edition of the New Man Writing Contest.
The New Man Writing Contest received entries from across 58 secondary schools in Nigeria with 1,012 total entries composing 346 poems, 214 prose works, 291 essays and 161 drama pieces.
Adeniran Adeleke won the first prize with his essay "African Heritage and Values" while Adewonuola Ifeoluwa Esther, followed with her poem "My name is Africa" and Edechukwu Matthais' essay "The Future of Harms and Hopes" came third place.
The judges appraised the winning entries as diverse in style with mentions to exceptional creativity, judicious use of imagery, especially seen in the skillful use of symbols and metaphors.
The New Man Writing Contest Prize, initiated in 2016, solely aims to comb the forest of literary virginity and creativity among students of secondary schools in Africa. She has received over 2,000 entries since inception, with winning entries from Ojuko Temitayo, Arukuje Olusegun, Agu Gift, Osinachi James, Onyekwelu Chinwenite Kingsley, Opeyimika Aremu, Oladoyin Ayodeji Victor, and Enomah Exploit Ebubechukwu in previous editions.
In the Press Release, Nelson Vincent Ayomitunde, the President of The New Man, a gospel media organisation congratulated the winners and enjoined the general public to anticipate the 2020 edition of the contest.