The United Bank for Africa (UBA) Foundation has doubled the prize money for its annual essay competition to N4,500,000 million for the top three winners.
Managing Director, UBA Foundation, Bola Atta, revealed the increment while announcing the call for entries for the 2018 edition of the competition at the bank’s headquarters in Marina, Lagos, on Monday.
Ms Atta said the overall best winner would get N2million scholarship grant – up from the previous N1million which would be paid yearly until the student graduates from any university in Africa.
The second placed would get N1,500,000 as against N750,000, while the third position would get N1 million – twice the N500,000 previous prize money.
Senior Secondary School pupils across the country have until November 2, 2018 to submit their entries for the essay competition, titled: “What is the biggest environmental issue that your generation will face and how can it be avoided?”
Ms Atta said the Foundation, which is the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) arm of the United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc set up the competition to give Nigerian youths opportunity to get educated regardless of their backgrounds, increase their knowledge through reading and research, and improve their writing skills.
“The national essay competition started not only to allow students fund their education but help them enhance their reading and writing skills. The essay competition is a continuation of the Read Africa initiative. If you read well, you will write well,” she said.
Ms Atta said witers of the best 12 entries would be invited to write a second essay under live examination conditions to certify their work.
She challenged pupils of Holy Child School, Obalende, and Victoria Island Secondary School who were present at the event to enter the competition and put in essays that could be among the winning entries.
