Tony Elumelu
By Our Reporter
UBA Foundation, the corporate social responsibility arm of the United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, has commenced the 2020 edition of its annual National Essay Competition in Nigeria with a call for entries.
Now in its 10th year, the National Essay Competition (NEC) is part of the foundation’s education initiative aimed at promoting reading culture and encouraging healthy and intellectual competition amongst secondary school students.
This year’s edition has been modified to ensure ease of access and increased participation of senior secondary school students from the comfort of their homes through the introduction of a digital submission portal.
Taking into consideration the effects COVID-19 has had on lives and incomes, UBA Foundation has also increased the prize money for the 2020 edition by 33 per cent as the first prize winner will get an educational grant of N2.5 million, up from N2 million in 2019. The second and third prize winners will now receive N2 million and N1.5 million educational grants respectively, from N1.5 million and N1 million, which were awarded in the previous year’s competition.
Chief Executive Officer, UBA Foundation, Mrs Bola Atta, stated that with the newly introduced digital submission portal, more students in secondary schools across the country would have the opportunity to scan and send in their entries and compete to win educational grants for study at any university of their choice on the African continent.
Atta explained that the choice of topic for this year’s edition is one that helps promote creative and analytical thinking in students while helping them become problem solvers. The essay topic is: ‘Do you think that the lockdown during the pandemic was an essential measure in spite of the hardship it has brought economically? What would you have done differently and why?”
Students can apply for the competition at: www.ubagroup.com/national-essay-competition.
