Africa leading bank, United Bank for Africa (UBA) has launched the 2016 edition of the United Bank for Africa’s National Essay Competition on Friday, September 23, 2016. Ms Ijeoma Aso, Managing Director/CEO of UBA Foundation revealed that… “Entries for the essay competition opens on September 23, 2016 and will close on November 4, 2016. The essay topic for this year is ‘If you were in a position to help the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), what would you do?’ Entries received 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. Three best essays will be selected as the overall winners from 12 finalists that will emerge from the first round of the competition. The top three winners of the competition will win educational grants to study in any African university of their choice. Prizes to be won include N1, 000,000.00 for the star prize winner; N750, 000.00 for the 1st runner-up, and N500, 000.00 for the 2nd runner-up.”
“Applicants should send in handwritten essay entries of not more than 750 words on the above topic to UBA Foundation, UBA House, 3rd floor, 57 Marina, Lagos. Applications can also be sent to any UBA office in Nigeria for onward delivery to UBA Foundation.”
Charles Aigbe, Group Head, Communications, UBA Plc added that the essay competition was one of UBA’s contributions to educational development in Nigeria and across Africa. “As a pan-African financial services group with operations in 22 countries, we aim to impact on the countries we do business through the three main anchors of education, environment and social empowerment. UBA is Africa’s global bank and we believe that we should give back to the society and this is an important part of our business culture. Over the years, we have contributed to the development of education in Nigeria by giving various grants, endowment chairs and facilities to institutions all over the country.”
“As the Corporate Social Responsibility arm of the UBA Group, UBA Foundation is committed to the socio-economic betterment of the communities in which UBA operates, focusing on development in the areas of environment, education, economic empowerment and special projects. UBA Foundation remains a role model for other corporate organisations in Africa. The Foundation has dedicated resources to ensuring that CSR is not simply conceived as a marketing tool in the corporate world but as a corporate contribution towards promoting sustainable development in communities.”
The grand event was attended by students from different secondary schools in Lagos including, Holy Child College, International School, University of Lagos, High Hope Academy, Ojota Senior Secondary School, Caleb International College, CMS Grammar School, and Crescent Secondary School.