The children were all looking beautiful. Even though it was a competition, the children were all happy to see one another, exchanging friendly glances and giggles. To them, it was just one of their usual fun times.

To the adults, this was a warfare they were all determined to use any means possible to win.

What they did not know was that the winners were already decided long before the competition. The goal they were racing towards was long won before they entered it.

The headmistress had decided that the children of parents that donated a lot to her school activities, participated in almost every PTA activity and did not challenge her authority during meetings were to be made the brand Ambassadors of the school.

It was the first of its kind so a lot of measures were taken to make it enviable and memorable.

Each contestant was to raise funds to support a school project and the contestant with the highest amount stood the chance of winning.

Looking back, I realized it was a bad lesson we were giving the children. Money should not be the sole qualification for being in a competition. Besides, the children themselves were indirectly showing us how the whole thing should have been run: with an air of playfulness about it.

But instead, it turned into bitter rivalry and the sowing of seeds of discord and the twisting of the hands of fate in favor of the favored.

The children were in the traditional dresses of their respective countries : Ivory Coast, Togo, Burkina Faso, Mali, Ghana, Cameroun and Nigeria…

They looked gorgeous and very beautiful.

Among the contestants was a child of a couple whose daughter died recently. The  girl was also a pupil in the school. Her sudden death occurred in December and it was in the same December during the end of year party for the students that her elder sister participated in the competition. She was called Amadiora, Cameroonian, very pretty and obviously the favorite of the crowd.

Ideally, the judges were to crown her and another boy the brand Ambassadors of the school. Instead, the headmistress had told them in advance the winners.

Everything else we were doing there was just comedy and concert in the eyes of those who already knew how things were going to turn.

Then came that awful moment when it was so obvious to the crowd which girl was going to win. Amadiora had swag, was beautiful, spoke confidently and displayed intelligence. Everyone thought she was the obvious winner.

Glistening in the Christmas light was the Grand Prize, a giant electric vehicle for children and a bottle of champagne. Sadly, there was no prize for first and second runner-ups.

The place was silent. I took a quick glance at the couple that had lost a child, Amadiora’s parents. I admired their courage and strength and their ability to smile and come to the event looking flamboyant and joyful despite the sombre mood hanging over their family.

I wondered what justification the judges were going to give for the diversion of the crown from the true winners.

To cover up for the shady justification, the judges claimed “there were other factors aside the looks and performance of the children on the D-day.”

They also claimed that the favorite of the headmistress, Ndewura, raised more money than the rest of the children combined. Of course, they didn’t say that she was the favorite of the headmistress but we all knew despite her attempts to look neutral and claims that everything was in the hands of the judges. I’m very sure she added her own money to make her candidate win. Or, the judges were just making up the figures.

I remember turning away as the winners were announced. I couldn’t look at the disappointment on the faces of  couple that were grieving.

They felt shattered, especially because they now knew that the results were biased and there was only one person at the event who could have influenced things : the headmistress.

How could she do this to them having visited them and seen how difficult surviving the loss of a child was.

There were rumors among the crowds. The rumors got louder and at a point I thought the judges would have some sense to turn the results but they were adamant that they did the right thing before God and Man.

Some parents even left in anger and disappointment before the party ended and you would think the headmistress felt ashamed for how badly things turned out. She insisted that everyone couldn’t be pleased and that there will be more of such competitions in the coming years and the mistakes in this one will be corrected in the next.