Broadcasting
12year Old Pupil Emerges Winner of Inaugural Heirs Life Essay Championship
Ugbomyke Princewill Ebubechukwu, a 12year old pupil of Gateway Schools, Enugu, has emerged the winner of the first edition of Heirs Life Essay Championship.
L:R Proprietress, Gateway Schools, Enugu, Dr. Loveline Ndu, Winner, Heirs Life Essay Championship, Ugbomyke Princewill, Communications Manager, Heirs Life Assurance Limited, Timilehin Adebiyi and Head, Retail Sales, Heirs Life Assurance Limited, Olugbenga Osibodu, at the presentation ceremony of Heirs Life Essay Championship Cup at Gateway Schools, Enugu, Enugu state on Friday, August 19, 2022.
The nationwide competition was organised by Heirs Life Assurance (HLA), the leading digital life insurance company in Nigeria, with over one thousand pupils submitting entries from across the country.
As the overall winner, Princewill was with presented a brand-new laptop, the prize for the first place, and his school, Gateway Schools, represented by the proprietress Dr. Loveline Ndu received the Heirs Life Essay Championship cup and N500,000 worth of books and other educational materials at the award ceremony held in Enugu, Enugu State on, Friday, August 19, 2022.
Participating students were tasked to submit a 500-word essay on the topic, ‘If I were the President of Nigeria.’ The over 1000 entries received were graded by a team of experts under the leadership of a notable Professor of English Language, followed by a selection interview for further quality assurance.
Other winners include Purity Chukwudi Chetachi, a Basic 5 pupil of Star of Hope School, Lagos, who emerged first runner up and won a cash prize of One Hundred Thousand Naira (N100,000), and Abidoye Habeeb, a JSS 2 student of Mivara Secondary School, Lagos, who won third place with a cash prize of Fifty Thousand Naira (N50,000).
According to the MD/CEO of Heirs Life Assurance Limited, Niyi Onifade, the Essay Championship showcase the highly intellectual young future leaders in our nation.
He said, “All the students who participated in this competition are winners. However, we can only award a few of them. Indeed, the quality of essays that we received from these amazing students was fascinating and the winner, Princewill Ugbomyke, expressed himself in such a remarkable way that one could easily visualise his dreams for our country. We congratulate Princewill, his school, and the other finalists, and wish all of them a very bright future.”
Speaking on behalf of the star prize winner, Ugbomyke Princewill Ebubechukwu, his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Ebubechukwu, appreciated Heirs Life for their initiative and the opportunity given to students to compete in an educative and cordial manner. They also wished the Management of Heirs Life greater successes in their future endeavours.
The Heirs Life Essay Championship is one of the company’s activities to launch its flagship product for schools – the Heirs Smart School Plan, an affordable low-cost plan that promises to pay a child’s school fees throughout his/her stay in the school if the parent is unable to do so in a case of death or permanent disability. The Smart School Plan served as an inspiration for the essay competition.
Heirs Life Assurance (HLA) is a specialist life insurance company offering simple, quick, accessible, and reliable life insurance, retirement, and children’s education protection plans. HLA offers a wide range of personalised life insurance protection and investment plans that provide financial security to individuals and businesses. Heirs Life is also a subsidiary of Heirs Holdings, a pan-African investment group with presence across four continents and 20 African countries.
Metro Digital Limited, a licenced Indigenous broadcasting organisation, has accused Multichoice, pay television company, of refusing to obey judgements emanating from Courts in Nigeria.
It said the latest of such judgements is the one that was delivered by Justice Chinelo Odili of Rivers State High Court on May 4, 2026 in Suit No. PHC/3943/FHR/2025.
Dr. Paul Osuji, operations manager of Metro Digital, at a press conference in Port Harcourt, Rivers State,
said the suit was filed by the organisation and two others against Multichoice and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Osuji stated that Justice Odili has in the judgement described the arrest of a staff member of the company and the carting away of it’s properties and disruption of it’s broadcasting business by the EFCC over a civil dispute of copyrighy as unlawful and violations of the applicants’ rights.
The manager recalled that in October 2025, Multichoice instigated the EFCC to read their office in Port Harcourt, arrested a staff of the company and staff of another company, while the suit was still pending.
“On October 16, 2025, the premises of Metro Digital Limited, a licenced indigenous broadcasting organisation was raided by the Nigerian anti-graft agency, EFCC, instigated by Multichoice Nigeria, purportedly acting on a preservation order made by the Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt over the sub licensing of broadcasting content right.
“The preservation order came from a civil dispute already adjudicated by the Court of Appeal No. CA/CS/188/2021 – Multichoice Vs Metro Digital Limited and 20 others, which is a subject of a pending appeal -No. SC/CV/1248/2022 -Multichoice and 20 others before the Supreme Court.
“Instructively, while suit No. PHC/ 3943/ FHR/2025 was still pending, Metro Digital Limited filed an application to set aside the said preservation orders of the Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt and presided over by Hon. Justice A.T Mohammed.
“In his ruling delivered on December 10, 2025, set aside the preservation orders and it’s legal execution on Metro Digital Limited. The court also ordered EFCC to return unconditionally all the properties and records of Metro Digital Limited, illegally and unlawfully carted away during the raid but the agency has till today not obeyed those orders of the Court,” he said.
Metro Digital Limited is known for operating SLTV, a direct-to-home satellite television service launched to provide affordable, locally-owned alternatives to international pay TV
A Federal High Court in Lagos has restrained the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) from sanctioning or punishing broadcast stations and presenters over the expression of personal opinions, alleged bullying of guests, or failure to maintain neutrality on air.
NBC
Justice Daniel Osiagor granted the interim injunction following an ex parte application filed by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) and the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE).
The court specifically restrained the NBC, its officers, agents and affiliated persons from enforcing its recently issued “Formal Notice” or imposing sanctions, fines or penalties on broadcasters based on provisions of the 6th Edition of the Nigeria Broadcasting Code, pending the hearing and determination of the substantive suit.
SERAP and NGE had approached the court to challenge what they described as an arbitrary and unlawful move by the commission to punish broadcasters for allegedly expressing personal opinions as facts, bullying or intimidating guests, or failing to maintain neutrality during programmes.
The groups also asked the court to determine whether the provisions of the Nigeria Broadcasting Code relied upon by NBC were inconsistent with the 1999 Constitution, as amended, and Nigeria’s international human rights obligations.
The suit followed an April statement by the NBC in which it raised concerns over what it described as increasing violations of the broadcasting code across news, current affairs and political programmes.
The commission had warned that presenters who expressed personal opinions as facts or bullied guests during live broadcasts would be sanctioned.
However, Justice Osiagor, in his ruling, held that pending the hearing of the substantive matter, the commission must refrain from using the formal notice to threaten, sanction or punish broadcast organisations and on-air personalities under the contested code provisions.
The matter was adjourned until June 1, 2026, for hearing of the motion on notice.
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arraigned Metro Digital Limited before a Federal High Court in Port Harcourt over alleged cybercrime and unlawful interception and rebroadcast of content belonging to Multichoice Nigeria.
Metro Digital
The company was arraigned before Justice A.T. Mohammed on an amended four-count charge bordering on cybercrime-related offences and alleged illegal rebroadcast of protected broadcast content.
According to a statement issued on Wednesday by EFCC’s Head of Media and Publicity, Dele Oyewale, the prosecution counsel, Steve E. Odiase, informed the court that the matter was scheduled for arraignment.
However, defence counsel, S.A. Somairi (SAN), reportedly attempted to halt the proceedings by drawing the court’s attention to a pending preliminary objection.
The judge, however, declined the request and ordered that the plea be taken in line with Section 478 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA), 2015, which allows a corporation to enter a plea in writing through its representative.
One of the charges alleged that Metro Digital Limited, alongside its Managing Director, Ifeanyi John Nwafor, and a staff member, Ikenna Kanu, both said to be at large, conspired between 2015 and 2019 to unlawfully intercept and rebroadcast protected broadcast signals in Port Harcourt, Rivers.
Another charge alleged that the defendants intentionally and without authorisation intercepted and rebroadcast broadcast signals and devices, including tiger boxes and dongles, over which Multichoice Nigeria holds exclusive rights in Sub-Saharan Africa.
The anti-graft agency said investigations into the matter began in 2019 after Multichoice petitioned the commission, alleging that the illegal rebroadcast of its content caused significant financial losses.
Metro Digital Limited, through its representative, pleaded not guilty to all four charges.
Following the plea, prosecution counsel prayed the court to fix a date for trial.
Justice Mohammed subsequently adjourned the case until June 29 and June 30, 2026, for continuation of trial.
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