BusinessEcstasy As Winners Emerge In UBA School Essay Competition

Ecstasy As Winners Emerge In UBA School Essay Competition

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It was a moment of jubilation and thankfulness as winners of the 12th edition of the United Bank for Africa (UBA) Foundation Secondary School Essay Competition were announced at a special event held in the bank’s head office in Lagos.

Students of select schools were invited alongside institutions whose students emerged winners in different categories of the award. Parents and media representatives also witnessed the grand ceremony held in the bank’s event hall.

For the 12th edition of its annual essay competition among secondary school students in Nigeria, the UBA Foundation asked participants to write on the topic: “ASUU strike has often cost Nigerian students’ time. Advise governments on how they can reach an agreement with ASUU to improve tertiary education in the nation.”

Glo

At the end of the evaluation, a 15-year-old student of the Federal Government Girls College, Ikot-Obio Itong, Akwa-Ibom State, Usongubong Paul, was ranked first, scoring 69 per cent. She was rewarded with a scholarship worth N5 million, and received a laptop, among other gifts.

Princess Sholabomi, 15, of Value Spring College, Lagos, was ranked second scoring 65.5 per cent, and was rewarded with N3,000,000 educational grant and a laptop; while the third prize of N2,500,000 and a laptop was won by another 15-year old student- Sharon Nwajiaku of Ota Total Academy, Ogun State.

The other nine finalists, which included only one boy, Daniel Idom, also received laptops, among other consolation prizes.

Miss Usongobong, who was accompanied to the event by a member of the school’s multimedia team, Akanyere Chigozie, said she was excited by the feat, saying she never expected she could go that far in the competition.

She said: “I am so grateful to the UBA Foundation for this great opportunity. It has helped me to believe in myself and bolstered my confidence. This scholarship will go a long way towards assisting in my dream to become an ophthalmologist. This opportunity has changed my life.”

The bank’s Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Oliver Alawuba, said the institution remains vested in the African youth, describing them as the future of the continent.

He said: “As a bank, we are interested in empowering our youth, and to do this, we must educate them, through efforts such as these. The truth is that we are launching these programmes in all the 20 countries where UBA has presence. Already, some of these countries have started. I was in Sierra Leone a few weeks ago where the NEC was held, and I was really encouraged by the enthusiasm and participation. Since we at UBA know that our future lies with our kids, they will take Africa to the world where it needs to be.”

In its report presented during the grand finale of the competition at the headquarters of the financial institution in Lagos, the four-member panel of judges said a good number of scripts out of about 5,000 received, lamented the strike by the lecturers.

The report was read on behalf of the panel by a Professor of English Literature at the Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto (UDUS), Asabe Kabir. Other members include Emmanuel Omobowale, Ini Uko and Samuel Onuigbo, all professors from various universities.

According to Mrs Asabe, the judges were excited about the topic, saying they had thought its liberality ought to “have given the students independent reasoning to express new ideas broadmindedly with unadulterated points, devoid of much plagiarism as have been observed in previous years, especially from those who would soon join the university system.”

Meanwhile, out of the almost 5,000 entries, Mrs Asabe said 12 were able to proceed to the next stage by writing on another topic: “Nigeria and the Brain Drain: The Interface between a Better Life and a Loss of Fortunes”.

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