14 Years Old Eshiet Abasiekeme Wins UBA National Essay Competition, Receives N2.5 Million Prize
14 years old Eshiet Abasiekeme of Bright Stars Model Secondary School from Akwa-Ibom state has emerged a trailblazing winner in the tenth annual UBA National Essay Competition(NEC) held virtually by the UBA Foundation – the CSR arm of the United Bank for Africa. This year, there were 12 finalists including Eshiet and this huge win makes it the fourth consecutive year females have led the competition.
Notwithstanding the constraints and challenges of 2020, the UBA Foundation received the highest number of entries ever with over 12,000 digital submissions.
The second prize at this year’s UBA National Essay Competition was awarded to 14 years old Mofuluwake Adesanya of Spring Forte-Lead College, Lagos State, who won a N2 million educational grant, while the third prize of N1.5 million went to Abdulganiyy Habeeba, 16 years old who attends the International School, University of Lagos. Eshiet and the 11 other finalists also won brand new laptops.
In his opening remarks, the group managing director and chief executive officer of UBA Plc, Mr. Kennedy Uzoka said, “The UBA National Essay Competition (NEC) has been changing lives positively for 10 years and we have awarded scholarships to students not just in Nigeria but in other parts of Africa like Ghana, Sierra Leone and Senegal. Some of these students are already graduates and contributing meaningfully to their communities. To all 12 of you that have emerged finalists, I would like to congratulate you. If out of 12,000 entries you were able to make it to the top 12, which represents about 0.12 per cent of the entries. You are no doubt, already a winner.”
The Managing Director/CEO of UBA Foundation, Bola Atta, stated that the foundation had taken into consideration the effect that the Covid-19 pandemic has had on lives and incomes across board and had increased the prize money by 33% this year to help cushion any negative or inflationary effects. She said, “The NEC helps to improve the quality of writing and competitiveness amongst students.”
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The UBA Foundation’s National Essay Competition (NEC) is an initiative under the Education pillar of the foundation. Now in its tenth year, the aim of the NEC is to ensure that more African youths have access to education.