Three winners have emerged at the Second Poster Competition for Final Year Students in the Department of Biological Sciences, College of Natural Sciences (COLNAS) of the University. The winners are: Miss. Cynthia Ejike, who came first with poster number two titled, “Development and Testing of An Health Educational Game for the Control of Schistosomiasis in School Children in Imala-Odo in Abeokuta North Local Government Area of Ogun State”, Miss. Aminat Shokunbi was second with poster number three titled, “Prevalence of Malaria and Anaemia Among Pregnant Women Attending their First Ante-natal Care Visit in Abeokuta, Ogun State”, while Miss. Grace Oyebode came third with poster number 12 titled, “Evaluation of Contact Activities of Leaf Extracts from Four Plants Species Against Maize, Weevil”.
According to Miss. Ejike, who is specialising in the Zoology Option, her poster was unique because of the introduction of the health education game called, “Schisto and Ladder”, to create awareness on Schistosomiasis in schools and for the control of the disease among primary school children. Schistosomiasis is an infection that is caused by parasites that live in fresh waters, such as rivers or lakes in sub-tropical and tropical regions worldwide. The pilot testing of the game was successful as the group that was administered the game showed increased knowledge of the disease as against the control group. She appreciated her project supervisor, Dr. Uwem Ekpo, for his support and described the competition as a welcome development which would help students to be hard working by preparing them adequately for their Project defence. She called on the University Management to sustain the competition, saying that she was looking forward to a time when the competition would be inter-collegiate. According to Aminat Shokunbi, also of the Zoology Option in the Department, the competition had helped her to build confidence in herself and increased her knowledge on the need for pregnant women to register for ante-natal booking early, to reduce morbidity, mortality and consequently, reduce the chances of delivering premature babies with low birth weights. She said her project was an eye opener, adding that she was full of gratitude to her supervisor, Dr. (Mrs.) Olufunmilayo Idowu for her immense support. She added that the competition had broaden her perspective on the subject adding that she would love to research further on the effects of malaria on babies and the risk factor between mother and babies; an aspect not covered in the poster competition. She also appreciated Management for allowing the competition to scale through, adding that participants would be motivated if Principal Officers of the University could attend their poster presentations in future.
Corroborating her colleagues, Miss. Grace Oyebode, acknowledged that the competition was well conducted and assessed. She disclosed that she had applied to read Veterinary Medicine in the University but ended up reading Biological Sciences with specialisation in the Zoological Option, saying that today, there was no reason to regret her decision. She explained that her poster presentation showcased the possibility of managing maize weevil through leaf extracts from four plants. According to her, this was a breakthrough in the post-harvest storage, which could help boost the economy of the country. She thanked her supervisor, Dr. Olabode Oke, for grooming her thoroughly. Earlier, the Acting Head, Department of Biological Sciences, Dr. Uwem Ekpo, explained that the poster competition, organised by his Department, was one of the innovative contributions towards advancing the University to a world-class status because nowadays, international conferences are incomplete without poster presentation, noting that the initiative to inculcate this culture into student of the University was a step in the right direction.
Speaking on other innovations put in place for the second poster competition of the Department, Dr. Ekpo said 19 posters were presented as against the 15 at the first poster competition. Also, the competition was more interactive with more students participating and using the forum to exhibit their work. He added that the competition had also created more awareness on Biological Sciences, as an interesting subject of study, and not just an alternative course. He hoped that in the not-too-distant future, the Department would explore the possibility of extending the poster competition to the postgraduate level.
