14th December, 2019
Nigerian teenager Samuel Miracle, was the winner of the World Chinese Bridge Language Competition. He beat 120 competitors from 105 countries in the world in the 2019 World Chinese Bridge Competition held in Henan Province, reported the News Agency of Nigeria.
The Chinese embassy in Abuja, presented Miracle to the media on Friday, with the award winner pledging to solve Nigeria’s electricity challenge after completing the scholarship he won to study Engineering in China.
However, a Facebook post by Nnamdi Azikiwe University, hosting the Confucius Centre, where Miracle learnt Chinese in less than a year, from 2018, said Miracle was the African champion at the competition.
“Mr.SAMUEL MIRACLE from our Confucius Institute yesterday emerged African champion in the 12th Chinese Proficiency Competition for Foreign Secondary Students in China.
“Mr.SAMUEL, who learnt Chinese just for one year in our Confucius Institute emerged African champion and the Top 5 in world. Congratulations”, said the university in a post dated 30 October..
Miracle said that the scholarship he won would be meaningless if he did not achieve something that would impact positively on the development of Nigeria.
Miracle explained that he decided to study the Chinese language in order to learn electrical engineering from China which is a developed country occupying a leading position in the world.
He promised to return to Nigeria after completing his scholarship programme to help tackle the problem of “blackout”.
He said that the prize for winning the competition was a four-year fully-funded scholarship to any university/institution to study any course of his choice.
“After my secondary education I went to study the Chinese language when I was introduced to the competition by a friend.
“I thought that it was a very good opportunity because it is a language I am really interested in.
“Before I started studying the Chinese language, I always had the dream of becoming an engineer and to be very good in it to help the electricity in sectors in Nigeria’s which is a big challenge.
“I will come back to impact in my country because you have not achieved the main goal of studying abroad if you do not return to your country to make an impact.
“I would do everything to help Nigeria, make a change where possible and correct the negative impression that other countries have about Nigeria”, Miracle said.
On winning the competition, Miracle said it was a great challenge as he only started studying Chinese at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University China Confucius Institute in Oct. 2018.
He said that winning the competition was as a result of determination and the help of his teachers as he advised other youngsters of the advantages of being bilingual.
Miracle said that Nigeria and China had strong ties and it would be good for Nigerians to take learning Chinese language seriously to further promote the cultural ties with both countries.
Also speaking, Mr Zhang Jianle, Lecturer at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University Conficius Institute commended Miracle who now bears the Chinese name Gu Siyan for his commitments to learning Chinese.
Jianle said that Miracle’s speed at learning the language was remarkable as a result of his determination.
He said that he was proud to be his teacher as he made the Institute which was participating in such category of the competition for the first time proud in winning the star prize.
Jianle urged the Nigerian institution to further build on the relations between Nigeria and China to introduce learning Chinese language in their curriculum especially from Primary School levels.
“It is important to learn Chinese language now because Chinese is getting stronger in the world and more Chinese companies are coming to Nigeria.
“It will help in deepening bilateral ties and interaction in order to enhance communications.
“It would be good to introduce Chinese in Nigerian schools. They have degree courses in Nnamdi Azikiwe University in Chinese Language but should also be introduced at primary level of education”, Jianle said.
Until 2019, the Chinese Bridge series of competitions has attracted more than 1.4 million teenagers from more than 150 countries and region across the world.
More than 6,500 students from more than 110 countries were invited to China to participate in the World Chinese Bridge rematch and finals.
Last year, another Nigerian with Chinese name Ding Jiaming, a Student of the Nnamdi Azikiwe University Confucius Center also won the African Championship of the 17th World University Chinese Bridge Competition