UBA Foundation begins Essay Competition, students to win N16m grants

From Dotun Omisakin, Lagos UBA Foundation, the Corporate Social Responsibility arm of the United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, has kicked off the 2024 edition of its annual National Essay Competition (NEC) with a Call for Entries in Nigeria with three overall winners receiving N16m in grants. Now in its 14th year, the annual National […]

From Dotun Omisakin, Lagos

UBA Foundation, the Corporate Social Responsibility arm of the United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, has kicked off the 2024 edition of its annual National Essay Competition (NEC) with a Call for Entries in Nigeria with three overall winners receiving N16m in grants.

Now in its 14th year, the annual National Essay Competition (NEC) is part of the UBA Foundation’s education initiative aimed at championing literacy and encouraging intellectual development among senior secondary school students across Nigeria and the African continent.

The 2024 edition will see increased participation from senior secondary school students across Nigeria as they can conveniently submit their entries from the comfort of their homes or schools via the UBA Foundation NEC digital submission portal at www.ubagroup.com/uba-foundation/national-essay-competition

A statement from the foundation indicated that the essay topic is: “Discuss the Impact of Carbon Emission on Climate in Nigeria: Challenges and Solutions”, while students are expected to properly research, write, scan and upload their handwritten essays to the digital portal on or before November 8, 2024.

The essays will be graded by renowned English professors who will then select the best 75 entries, which will be rewarded with N75,000 cash.

A second competition will be held across four regions in Nigeria – Abuja, Enugu, Lagos and Port Harcourt where the 75 candidates will compete to be one of the 20 finalists. These 20 finalists will thereafter write a third essay where the top three will be selected.

The Foundation has also announced a substantial increase in educational grants as the first-place winner will receive N7.5 million to study at any African university of their choice, while the second and third-place winners will receive N5 million and N3.5 million, respectively.

The Chief Executive Officer, UBA Foundation, Bola Atta, who spoke ahead of the flag-off of this year’s completion, stated that despite the current global economic challenges, UBA Foundation remains steadfast in their commitment to educational excellence by significantly increasing the grant prizes this year.

Apart from the 75 best essays, the 20 finalists will go home with brand new Laptops and other educational tools to help them with their studies and other tertiary research work. Also, the teachers of the school with the highest number of entries will be rewarded.

Atta pointed out that professors from leading Nigerian universities will serve as judges to evaluate the entries at all levels, to ensure fairness and transparency.