Funmi Ogundare
UBA Foundation yesterday rewarded five out of the 20 finalists of its National Essay Competition (NEC), designed to encourage students to think critically about national and continental challenges, develop independent perspectives and proffer practical solutions to societal problems.
The 2026 edition, themed, ‘No Nation Can Develop Without Food Security: How Can Nigeria Deal with This Problem?, attracted about 13,000 entries from senior secondary school students across Nigeria.
Miss Khaira Ojima Bala, 15, from Metro International School, Kubwa, Abuja, emerged the first position, smiling home with a scholarship of N15 million, a laptop computer, trophy and certificate. Miss Otobong Ubong from Topfaith International School, Akwa Ibom State, emerged second position with a scholarship of N10 million, while Miss Flourish Ndamzi from University of Port Harcourt Women Association International Secondary School, Rivers State, received a scholarship of N7.5.
Miss Udo God’s favour Ezekiel from Federal Government Girls College, Akwa Ibom State, and Olivia Anyanwu of Coral Impacts International School, Abuja, emerged fourth and fifth positions smiling home with a scholarship of N5 million and N3 million, respectively. They also got laptops computers and certificates.
Speaking at the grand finale of the 16th edition of the competition in Lagos, the Chief Executive Officer of the foundation, Bola Atta, explained that it has expanded the NEC to accommodate 20 finalists, up from 12 in previous editions, while increasing the number of scholarship beneficiaries from three to five, as part of efforts to widen access to education and empower more Nigerian students.
She stated the initiative had continued to grow in scope and impact since its inception 15 years ago.
Atta added that the competition, which initially focused on Nigeria, had expanded into a continental initiative, with students from seven African countries currently participating annually.
“The foundation is working towards extending the competition to 20 African countries to provide more young people with opportunities to develop their intellectual abilities and contribute to addressing societal challenges”, the CEO stated
According to her, the decision to increase the number of finalists from 12 to 20 was informed by the need to give more students the opportunity to benefit from the initiative beyond the scholarship rewards.
She explained the competition also provides participants with opportunities to develop analytical and critical thinking skills, build friendships and interact with peers from different parts of the country.
Atta said the foundation had invested almost N3 billion in the competition in Nigeria over the past 16 years, with additional investments across its African operations.
She described education as one of the foundation’s major pillars, stressing that it remained one of the most effective tools for breaking the cycle of poverty.
“Education is the best form of poverty eradication that exists. Without education, it is very difficult to get out of this cycle,” she said.
She added that the benefits of educating a child extended beyond the individual to the family and the wider community.
Speaking on the 2026 theme, the CEO said it was designed to encourage students to think critically about national and continental challenges, adding that the foundation deliberately selected topical issues that would challenge participants to develop independent perspectives and proffer meaningful solutions to problems confronting society.
According to her, the competition also discourages students from relying on Artificial Intelligence (AI) to generate their essays, as the objective is to strengthen their independent thinking and analytical abilities.
Attah congratulated the 20 finalists, describing them all as winners, irrespective of their eventual positions in the competition.
In his remarks the Group Managing Director of UBA, Oliver Alawuba, reaffirmed the bank’s commitment to investing in the education and future of African youths, pledging continued support for the United Bank for Africa (UBA) Foundation’s National Essay Competition.
He said the initiative was more than a corporate social responsibility programme, describing UBA as an institution committed to shaping the future of Africa through education and youth development.
The bank, he noted believed that the best investment it could make was in the future of the continent, stressing that young people remained critical to Africa’s transformation.
According to him, “the competition, which has been sustained for 16 years, has grown beyond Nigeria, with plans underway to extend its reach to more African countries, including South Africa.
Alawuba said the bank would continue to support the competition, while exploring ways to expand its impact through additional initiatives, including capacity-building workshops for teachers.
He noted the increasing influence of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in education had raised concerns about students’ ability to demonstrate independent thinking and originality, making it necessary to educate teachers on how to guide students in the responsible use of the technology.
He said the proposed workshops would help teachers distinguish between the appropriate and inappropriate use of AI and equip them to guide students in developing their intellectual abilities.
The UBA chief stressed that the competition was not merely about essay writing or winning prizes but also about building confidence, developing critical thinking skills and exposing young people to opportunities and networks that could broaden their horizons.
Speaking on behalf of the judges, Professor of English at the University of Uyo, Ini Uko, raised concerns over the growing use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)-generated essays, plagiarism and multiple submissions by students participating in the competition.
Uko, who presented the judges’ assessment report on behalf of three other professors of English, said between 35 and 40 per cent of the essays submitted showed characteristics of content generated by AI tools, including ChatGPT and other large language models.
She said the competition was conducted in two stages to promote literacy, critical thinking and effective writing skills among young Nigerians.
“The first-stage essay topic, ‘No Nation Can Develop Without Food Security: How Can Nigeria Deal with This Problem?’, was deliberately chosen to test students’ understanding of the relationship between national development, agriculture, economic policy, climate change, youth unemployment and food systems”, the don stressed.