The recipients of the Tope Temokun Essay Competition awards, as well as other selected individuals, convened with the esteemed Tope Temokun Esq. on Friday, May 19, 2023, at his Chamber at Akure to be presented with their cash prizes and certificates.
In light of this occasion, Legal Kekenke team engaged in insightful discussions with the respective individuals: Abioye Hammed Sunday (the winner), Folorunsho Samuel (the runner-up), and Akingbondere Tunde, a member of the Organizing Committee and the brainbox behind the this academic initiative. The aim was to gather their sentiments on their victory in the competition and, as well explore potential prospects for the future impact of the essay competition.
It is noteworthy that the Tope Temokun Essay Competition, being the maiden edition of its kind within the law faculty, AAUA was particularly conceived and initiated with the intention of promoting academic excellence and motivating individual member of the faculty.
Unveiling the discussions...
ABIOYE HAMMED SUNDAY
Legal Kekenke: How was your experience meeting Tope Temokun Esq. yesterday?
Abiye Hammed: I was abound with joy. It was a surreal experience riddled with overwhelming delight and inestimable happiness. I’m someone who’s never been fazed or cowed by other people’s greatness, but meeting the esteemed human rights advocate mildly intimidated me.
Greatness really does inspires awe.
Legal Kekenke: What was your reaction after being told that you won the essay competition, and what does such achievement project for you in respect of future endeavours?
Abiye Hammed: I was happy to the hilt after I was announced as the winner. It presented an uncommon chance to showcase myself to the world. The achievement was an awakening call, a rude awakening and clarion call that hard work and persistence does not go unpunished.
It’s an inspiration for me to do more, as it is for other people like me in the faculty, in the school and in the society as an extension that with drive, talent and resolution, the sky pales in comparison to what limit can be reached.
Legal Kekenke: What is your standpoint toward the creation of the essay competition and its organizers?
Abiye Hammed: It’s a commendable job by the organizers, ranging from the panel of judges to the chairman of the Organizing Committee. I can’t begin to fathom the months of diligence it took to make the the competition as resounding a success as the one it was.
It’s an unprecedented initiatives and hopefully, this is just the beginning. Great people do great things, and may they be replenished a thousandfold for the shifts they’ve put in, be it physically, mentally or financially. It’s all loves and hearts from here.
FOLORUNSHO SAMUEL
Legal Kekenke: How was your experience meeting the esteemed Tope Temokun Esq. yesterday?
Folorunsho Samuel: It was a great pleasure and a great opportunity for me to have eventually met the legal giant Tope Temokun Esq yesterday in the company of some of my colleagues at his hallowed chamber sited and located in Akure. I learnt a lot even to the last minute I exhausted at his chamber and indeed it was a colorful day I would live to reminisce.
Legal Kekenke: What do you think the essay competition hopes to achieve, and has achieved—and also, your standpoint as to its presumed continuity within the Law Faculty, AAUA?
Folorunsho Samuel: According to him and the organizers, the essay competition aim to promote and encourage writing prowess which is embedded in law students and aside promoting their writing skill it also aim to promote their work by publishing same in renowned national dailies. As a matter of fact the aim was achieved. I can boldly say I have been encouraged to write more.
Yes, it was the maiden edition and the sponsor is ready for it continuity, the ball is in our court, I hope it continues.
Legal Kekenke: Since, this is your first win for an essay competition, what was the feeling like?
Folorunsho Samuel: It feels like, go guy! You can do more!
The positive vibes yunno? 😂😌
AKINGBONDERE TUNDE
Legal Kekenke: So, it is evident that you are the brainbox of the essay competition. What inspired the ingenious concept for the competition, and what objectives do you hope to achieve by showcasing it?
Akingbondere Tunde: Yes. I initiated the competition and served at the level of the Local Organising Committee alongside other brilliant and cooperating students of the Law Students' Society, AAUA. It was in the course of my tenure as the Senator representing the prestigious Faculty of Law at the Law Students' Representative Council.
As a student of history, I know the significance of instigating ideas like this, especially in recognition of the unbeatable legacies of personalities who have been staking their peace for the course of public good and posterity. Persons like this deserve to be ostentatiously honoured in such a way that still directly impacts the masses. I never knew Gani Fawehinmi was earlier honoured by the authority of Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba, until I read about it. Students of the prestigious University of Ife blazed the trail by conferring the same Gani with the award of the Senior Advocate of the Masses. This action of the students was interpreted to have been the remote force behind the subsequent consideration of the 'uncapped professor of Law' in Gani Fawehinmi for the coveted Senior Advocate of Nigeria. This was despite the many years of denial.
I wouldn't have just engaged anyone to come sponsor a competition. I feel a badge of honour must follow intellectual engagements tailored towards the legacies of iconic persons who have remained fearless in their pursuit of a good life for the many oppressed and traumatised Nigerians.
Tope Temokun is a renowned human rights lawyer who has been consolidated by the Gani Fawehinmi Foundation as a rising star and fighter. He has a glaring record of untainted activism.
The competition was meant to open the eyes of our students to the need to actively participate in human rights law. We want them to cultivate the habit that better positions them as compassionate to courses of the people.
As earlier promised, the winning essays will be published. We can better sensitize the public from the prism of the ingenious contributions thrown in by the winners.
Legal Kekenke: While it may be presumed, we will want to clarify: As the brainbox behind the essay competition, do you plan to continue it in future academic sessions?
Akingbondere Tunde: Sure. The sponsor has promised to be actively involved in activities that will impact the society. That can be interpreted as a confirmation of its continuity.
On my own part, I will keep seeking platforms that will avail me opportunities to further introduce programmes that will impact the Law Students' Society, AAUA. This is pending my graduation from the university. Being an author of three books. In fact, one of them has been in the syllabus of the Ondo State government (for JSS 1 students) since 2018. I am more disposed to writing. I am also sympathetic to the course of genuine Nigerian writers.
Legal Kekenke: Lastly, How will you ensure the continuity and sustainability of the essay competition in the long term?
Will there be any efforts to promote the essay competition to a wider audience in the future?
Akingbondere Tunde: I had that discussion with the sponsor already and it is now an annual competition. We have successfully concluded the maiden edition with prizes worth of N150,000 going to the winners. That's a big achievement already!
I do hope to add one more before leaving. Already building a discussion with human rights lawyer Femi Falana on a similar opportunity. That one is going to be a nationwide competition. But it will be domiciled in AAUA. The Tope Temokun essay can keep being a vested prize in the Law Students Society. Thank you!
Draws the curtain....
It is gratifying to see the organizers of the Tope Temokun Essay Competition start off on a strong footing, and equally, an edifying era for the faculty, to have a first-hand inception of a competition that is dedicated towards empowering its members to make meaningful impacts.
LK...Making a statement!
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