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LAGOS: In a bid to discharge its corporate social responsibility, UBA Foundation, the arm of the United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, has restated the importance of quality education as it significantly emphasizes that education remains one of the foundation’s key initiatives.
Mrs. Bola Atta, the Chief Executive Officer, UBA Foundation, stated this on Tuesday October 8, 2019 at the media launch which took place at UBA headquarters in Lagos, saying, “the essay competition, which is in its ninth edition, will provide an opportunity for students in secondary schools across the country to put in their entries and to win prizes in the form of educational grants to study in any university of their choice on the African continent.
As the foundation commenced the 2019 edition of its annual National Essay Competition in Nigeria with a call for entries, Attah said, the programme is targeted at senior secondary school students in Nigeria and is organised annually, as 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.
She noted that beginning from last year, the prize money increased significantly as the UBA Foundation emphasizes that education remains one of the foundation’s key initiatives.
Her words, “To us at the Foundation, this is our drive to improve the quality of education across the continent. It is also our way of giving back to the society. The competition is a key aspect of our investment drive in human capital, as we seek to improve knowledge base, allow 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 across the African continent,” she noted.
“We are driven by the mantra to do well and do good and we will not relent in our efforts to touch lives through our various projects, and initiative.”
Explaining the modalities for the essay competition now in its 9th year, Attah disclosed that 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.
“A second round of the competition will involve the 12 finalists who will write a second supervised essay from which three best essays will be selected as the overall winners from the 12 finalists emerged from the first round of the competition.
“The first prize for the UBA National Essay Competition is a N2 million educational grant, while the second and third prizes are N1.5 million and N1m educational grants respectively.”
Atta explained further that the choice of essay for this year’s competition is one that helps promote creative and analytical thinking in students and helps them to be problem solvers. This year, the topic is “What do you think the government should do to control fraud in Nigeria?”
It is important to note that apart from Nigeria, the national essay competition has been taken to other African countries including Ghana and Senegal. More countries including Mozambique and Kenya will kick off the initiative this year. A unique component of this year’s edition is that, schools that turn in the highest number of entries will be recognized and rewarded with a special prize by the Foundation.
Also speaking at the call to entries, the Group Head, Direct Sales Agency, Ogechi Altraide, who spoke on the benefits of reading and writing essays, motivated the students to research into the topics and give it their best shot, adding that there is the need for them to focus on adapting themselves to happenings in their generation, and to have a growth mindset. This she explained, will ensure that they can apply themselves and conquer whatever challenges they are faced with.
According to Ogechi, reading and writing go hand in hand, and so it is important for students to keep abreast of how the economy can develop through reading and writing.
An English teacher from Holy Child College, Ikoyi, Mrs Ezechukwu Ngozi, gave the students tips on how to write good essays, and advised them to keep to the proper tenets of essay writing to come out tops in the competition.
UBA Foundation, the CSR platform for the UBA Group, embodies the Group’s CSR objectives and seeks to impact positively on societies through a number of laudable projects and initiatives.
Under the ‘Read Africa’ initiative, the Bank donates thousands of books to students every year in Nigeria and across Africa, with a view to encourage and promote the reading culture in secondary schools.
