Michael Paul, A 500-level medical student at the University of Ibadan, was awarded a total cash prize of ₦300,000 for emerging winner of the 5th Jemila Abubakar Memorial Essay (JAME) Competition, organised by the Asido Foundation, at the JAME 2025 Award Ceremony/Stakeholder Mental Health Summit held on Thursday, 27th February 2025, at the Gamaliel Onosode Hall, International Conference Centre, University of Ibadan.
The two-fold event was to recognise the top 15 essay entrants and award cash prizes to the top three especially. The winners, Michael Paul, Oguejiofor Nkemiakoram from the University of Lagos, and Iheanacho Esther from the University of Nigeria, received cash prizes of ₦200,000, ₦150,000, and ₦100,000 respectively. The first prize was supplemented by a ₦100,000 gift from Hajia Aremu Khadija of The Choice Foundation, yielding a total winning sum of ₦300,000.
The event also featured the investiture ceremony for 12 new ambassadors of the Foundation, professionals in their respective fields who share a common goal of promoting the Foundation’s ideals and vision for better mental health in society.
The essay competition, inaugurated in 2020 in memory of Jemila Abubakar, a pioneer member of the Foundation, aims to raise mental health awareness and literacy and eliminate the stigma associated with mental disorders among students. The 15 winners will undergo a one-year fellowship to train and equip them as ambassadors on their respective campuses.
Michael Paul commented on his win with the Press, “I feel honoured and elated to be deemed a worthy winner. The brainstorming and writing process wasn’t easy. It was filled with a lot of self-doubts. But what kept me going was the fact that I have had someone dear to me go through mental health struggles, and I resolved to use this platform as an outlet to tell their story.”
Excited by the turnout for the event, the Program Manager, Mr Ayoola Oyetunji, commented, “In light of the all-too-common, general disinterest in mental health, having people who don’t have anything to do with the event come is truly encouraging and speaks to the importance of advocacy which Asido is at the forefront of.” About the essay competition, he continued, “It is a medium to reach the underserved population, especially the youth among whom mental health issues are common. It is an opportunity to increase mental health literacy by encouraging participants to write and research on the subject, thereby raising the next generation of advocates.”
Present at the event were the Founder and CEO of Asido Foundation, Dr. Jibril Abdulmalik, the Vice Chancellor of the University of Ibadan, Prof. Kayode Adebowale represented by Prof. Ademola Lewis, the family of the late Miss Abubakar, ambassadors and patrons of the Foundation, representatives from partner organisations, and other esteemed members of the public.
Igdaliah Otitoola