Essay competition: UBA Foundation calls for entries

The corporate social responsibility arm of the United Bank for Africa Plc, UBA Foundation, has announced the call for entries for the 2017 edition of its annual National Essay Competition in Nigeria.
The essay competition, which is put together for senior secondary school students, is organised as part of the Foundation’s education initiative to promote a reading culture and encourage healthy and intellectual competition among secondary school students in Nigeria and across Africa.
The Chief Executive Officer, UBA Foundation, Mrs. Bola Atta, said the innovation would be providing educational grants of N1 million for the winner to study in any African university of his or her choice, while the second and third prizes are N750,000 and N500,000 educational grants respectively.
She said, “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 and 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.”
Atta also explained that each year, the bank donates thousands of books to students in Nigeria and other parts of Africa, under the ‘Read Africa’ initiative to encourage and promote the reading culture in secondary schools. “We are driven by the mantra to do well and do good and we will not relent in our efforts at touching lives through our various projects, and initiatives,” she added.
The entries received from students for the competition will be reviewed by a distinguished panel of judges made up of professors from reputable Nigerian Universities, who will then shortlist 12 best essays for further
assessment.