At least 27 countries will take part in the 2024 edition of African Spelling Bee competition before the end of year as Nigeria play host.
The competition will involve secondary school pupils from 27 African member-nations who are national champions.
Spellers from the various countries will be participating to exhibit their spelling ability at the continental event.
As a run-up to the event, country spelling bee organisations expected to arrange competition for their students and eventual winners will represent their countries at the annual African meet.
The Nigeria Spelling Bee is organised yearly by Bee Spelling Competition Initiative, a registered non-governmental organisation endorsed by the Federal Ministry of Education in collaboration with the National Senior Secondary Schools Commission.
The competition is run at state and national levels from which winners represent the country.
Since its inception in 2016, Nigeria has won in the African Championship as Esere Minabowa of Deeper Life High School, Port Harcourt, Rivers State won 2023 edition which was held in Kampala, Uganda.
The winner of 2024 edition will get $10,000 in scholarships for any university across the globe.
National Coordinator of Nigeria Spelling Bee, Abdulsalam Ibrahim, disclosed that one of the major challenges of the organisation was lack of support from government, corporate organisations, and individuals.
He expressed worries over why government has not been doing enough for the education sector, adding that the children involved in the competition are the future leaders of the nation.
He noted that no amount invested in this category of Nigerians could be too much.
