By Gabriel Ogunjobi
There is now an extension in the deadline for submission of entries to the Union of Campus Journalists (UCJ)’s annual Inter-University Essay Contest.
Endowed by ‘Fisayo Soyombo, an investigative journalist, also a former President of the organisation, the fourth edition of the contest will now close its application on November 30, 2019 instead of October 31 that it was initially planned.
Applicants are required to answer, in no more than 1,000 words, the question: ‘The Dire Need for Genuine National Development: Is Revolution A Solution?’
Entries must be written with Times New Roman, a font size of 12, and with 1.5 spacing to be submitted in PDF. All entries are also asked to be made via email to ucjunibadan@gmail.com alongside applicant’s short bio and scanned student identity card.
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Launched in 2015, this year’s edition comes with the highest prizes ever, as three winners will go away with a total sum of N450,00. The first prize is N200,000 plus an internship placement in a newspaper, second prize N150,000 and third prize N100,000.
Martins Isaac, the President of UCJ, UI said this year’s contest is the largest installment which ‘seeks to engage university students across the federation on the pertinent matter of nation-building.’
‘The UCJ, UI, is proud to be spearheading this process of getting university undergraduates nationwide to inculcate the habit of thinking deeply and proffering solutions, rather than just whining and complaining, to the country’s problems.”
“It’s an honour to be the one to revive this contest and take it on as an annual pet project,” he said.
“Back in 2007, with the help of the likes of Obianuju Okafor and Chinyere Chimodo-Okeh, we ran a contest that gave out a total prize money of N340,000 — N100,000 for the first-prize winner, N80,000 for the second, N60,000 for the third, and N20,000 each for five other finalists. I am finally happy that, for the first time, we’ve now reached a point where we’re surpassing the 2007 total prize money.”
Past winners of the award included Simult Omoya for 2015, Kunle Adebajo for 2016 and Kanyinsola Olorunnisola for 2017.
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