This year, senior secondary school pupils face a slightly different challenge in the UBA Foundation annual essay competition. They are to write an expository essay, one that can be understood by their grandparents, about how to apply a new innovation or technology.
If they excel and are among the 12 finalists, they could win scholarship grants and laptop computers.
The UBA Foundation, the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) arm of UBA Plc, opened entries for the competition on Tuesday during a press conference held at the bank’s headquarters in Marina Lagos.
Managing Director of the foundation, Bola Attah, said at the briefing attended by some secondary school pupils and their teachers as well as senior management officers of the bank, that the essay competition was an effort to improve the reading and writing skills of young people.
She said this year’s topic (Select a popular new technology or application and write an instruction manual for your grandparents on how to use it and how to get the most value out of it) is to challenge the participants’ ability to communicate in simple but understandable language.
Entries for the competition close October 27 following which the best 12 essayists would be invited to the headquarters to take a second test.
The top three essayists would get scholarship grant for their university education anywhere in Africa – N1 million for the best; N750,000 for the first runner up and N500,000 for the second runner up. All 12 finalists would also get laptops.
Urging secondary pupils to enter for the competition, Mrs Attah said: “If you read you become intelligent over all. Even if you are in sciences everybody should know how to write. It is good to hone your skills and learn to be a good writer and reading is a way to get there.”
Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the bank, Mr Ebele Ogbue, counseled the pupils appreciate Nigeria as their country and make her great.
“As Africans it is important that we learn about your heritage. Only Africans can really build Africa because they have a stake in a glorious Africa,” he said.
