UBA Foundation, the corporate social
responsibility arm of the United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, has today commenced
the 2020 edition of its annual National Essay Competition in Nigeria with a
call for entries.
Now in its tenth year, the National Essay Competition (NEC) is
part of UBA Foundation’s education initiative which is aimed at promoting the
reading culture and encouraging healthy and intellectual competition amongst
secondary school students in Nigeria and across Africa.
This year’s edition, which is the 10th since
inception, 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 the Covid-19 pandemic has
had on lives and incomes across board, the UBA Foundation has also increased
the prize money for the 2020 edition of the NEC by 33 per cent as the first
prize winner will get an educational grant of N2.5m, up from N2m in 2019.
The second and third prize winners will now receive N2m and N1.5m educational
grants respectively, from N1.5m and N1m which were awarded in the previous
year’s competition.
The 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 will 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.
She said, “As a Foundation, which is the CSR arm of the United
Bank for Africa - a fully digitalised bank, we are driven by the mantra to
always innovate and adapt to our constantly changing environment. This year, we
thought hard about how to ease the pains that everyone is feeling. Students
have not been able to go to school and there has been a lot of anxiety in
families trying to ensure that educational gaps do not emerge. It is
imperative for us at the UBA Foundation that our impact programmes do not wane.
We also need to design them to be as inclusive as possible so that those
students who don’t have easy access to computers can still participate in the
competition with a chance to win grants towards their tertiary edification.
Atta explained that the choice of topic for this year’s edition
is one that helps promote creative and analytical thinking in students whilst
helping them become problem solvers. The essay topic selected is “Do you think that the lock - down during the Covid-19
pandemic was an essential measure in spite of the hardship it has brought
economically? What would you have done differently and why?”
All entrants are to hand write their essays and upload
scanned copies of their handwritten entries as well as ID on the digital
portal at www.ubagroup.com/ national-essay-competitionbefo re October 2, 2020. They may also
drop off the handwritten essays at their nearest UBA business office for onward
submission to the UBA Foundation.
The judges who are made up of esteemed professors from reputable
Nigerian Universities will receive all the essays on a digital drive, evaluate
them and select the top 12 finalists all of who will take home consolation
prizes including personal computers.
The finale of the NEC this year will be conducted virtually as the
initiative rolls out across 19 more countries in Africa.
UBA Foundation embodies the UBA Group’s CSR objectives and seeks
to impact positively on societies through several laudable projects and
initiatives. The Foundation has donated hundreds of thousands of books to
students across Africa under the ‘Read Africa’ initiative aimed at encouraging
and promoting the reading culture in African youths.
Students
can apply for the National Essay Competition 2020 at: www.ubagroup.com/national- essay-competition.
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