UBA Seeks Entries For Essay Competition

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UBA Foundation, the corporate social responsibility arm of the United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, has announced the call for entries for the 2018 edition of its annual UBA Foundation National Essay Competition in Nigeria.

Also, the Foundation has increased the award price in all category by 100 per cent. The first prize increased from N1 million to N2 million, a second prize from N750, 000 to N1.5 million, while third prize from N500, 000 to N1 million.

The essay competition which is put together for senior secondary school students is organised as part of UBA Foundation’s education initiative to provide a competitive platform to develop the intellectual and writing abilities of senior secondary schools students in Nigeria and across Africa. This year, the essay topic is ‘what is the biggest environmental issue you think your generation will face? How can it be avoided and how can it be solved?’

Speaking at a media launch to announce the call for entries held in Lagos, the chief executive officer of UBA Foundation, Mrs. Bola Atta, said the essay competition provides an opportunity for students in secondary schools across the country to put in their entries and win prizes in the form of educational grants to study in any universities based in Africa.

This prize, according to her, would encourage them to strive towards their goals in life. This year, the prize money has increased significantly as the UBA Foundation emphasises that education remains one of the foundation’s key initiatives.

“We are well aware that if you help get one child educated, you help support an entire family as that child will eventually positively impact his/her community. The competition is a key aspect of our investment drive in human capital as we seek to improve the knowledge base, which allows students to express themselves and write creatively.

“We will continue to sustain the initiative because education is very important to UBA and we are more than committed to providing the necessary support for students in Nigeria and throughout the African continent,” she noted.

Each year, the bank donates thousands of books to students in Nigeria and across Africa, under the ‘Read Africa’ initiative to encourage and promote the reading culture in secondary schools.

She explained that entries received from students for the competition would be reviewed by a distinguished panel of judges made up of professors from reputable Nigerian universities, who would then shortlist 12 best essays for further assessment.