UBA Group, the African financial services group, though its corporate Social Responsibility arm; UBA Foundation, has unveiled plans for a national essay competition for secondary schools in Nigeria.
The essay competition, to be known as the 'UBA Foundation National Essay Competition in Nigeria', is scheduled to commence with calls for entries from eligible participants on Monday September 12, 2011. Details to this effect emerged on Wednesday September 7, 2011 at a press parley in the UBA Head Office, Marina Lagos Nigeria.
According to the MD/CEO of UBA Foundation Ms Ijeoma Aso, the essay competition will avail students in senior secondary schools in Nigeria the opportunity to win prize monies in the form of educational grants. Ms Ijeoma Aso explained that the competition which is coming on the heels of the Foundation's 'Read Africa' initiative was conceived to promote creative thinking and the development of intellect among Nigeria students.
"We see it as a natural step to the 'Read Africa' project where we gave out books to schools in Nigeria and Africa. This will test their intelligence and ability to think creatively. Winners shall enjoy educational grants to cover their tuition fees in Nigerian Universities and will be enrolled in our UBA Scholar's program" she stated.
Also speaking at the occasion, the Deputy Managing Director (Designate), UBA Mr. Kennedy Uzoka said the essay competition falls within four focus areas of the Foundation namely Education, Economic Empowerment Environment and Special project. "Though we are beginning with Nigeria as the first Phase, we will implement this in all of the 18 other countries in Africa where we have presence as our way of contributing to the educational development of those countries and encouraging secondary school students to strive for the best in life".
Stressing the need for the educational empowerment of the youth, he said "UBA is in constant search for talents and to ensure we get the right hires we must continue to impact positively on our educational system through a number of investments and this is one of such" he said.
The essay competition is structured in such way that eligible secondary students are expected to send in handwritten entries on the topic 'Me and My Career' to the UBA Foundation's office in Lagos. At the end of October, 2011 when entries close, three renowned Nigerian Professors will review the entries and select an initial shortlist for further assessment. Three finalists will emerge at the end of the excise and they will win scholarship prizes that will be utilized for tuition in Nigerian Universities of their choices and automatically become UBA Scholars.
In his remark during the event, the Principal of Kings College, Lagos, Otunba Oladele Olapeju expressed delight even as he urged other stakeholders to emulate UBA's best practices especially in developing the education sector. He said "this gesture would go a long way to improving the communication skills of our students. We are ready to cooperate with the group to make this project a success. This project is bound to lead to quality assurance in the education sector".
As a the CSR platform for the UBA Group, UBA Foundation through her four areas of focus has and continues to impact positively on the lives of Africans, particularly in the various countries where the group has presence through a number of laudable projects and initiatives.
Charles Aigbe Divisional Head,
Marketing & Corporate Relations Directorate
