More than N22 million in educational grants and consolation prizes are up for grabs in the 2025 National Essay Competition (NEC) of UBA Foundation, the Corporate Social Responsibility arm of United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc.
Participants, who are mainly secondary school students, are required to research thoroughly, get their ideas together, write their essays, and submit the scanned copies of their entries through a digital portal on or before Friday, October 17, 2025.
To be eligible to participate, applicants must be Nigerian senior secondary school students with interested candidates required to complete the online application form, upload a handwritten essay of no more than 750 words on the given topic, attach a recent passport photograph, and provide a valid birth certificate, National ID card, or international passport.
The topic for this year’s edition, according to a statement from the organisation, is Nigeria is characterised by diverse cultures, ethnicities, and religions. How can young Nigerians deploy diversity to build a united nation?
It was noted that the topic was carefully chosen to encourage participants to put on their thinking caps, as they examine how the country’s diversity can be utilised as a tool for nation-building, unity, and long-term development, while also rekindling the dwindling reading culture amongst the youth.
The chief executive of UBA Foundation, Mrs Bola Atta, who underscored the significance of the initiative, noted that young minds have a vital role to play in fostering national cohesion, particularly at a time when unity is most needed in the country.
“For well over a decade, the National Essay Competition has provided a vital platform for our secondary school students to express their ideas and showcase their intellectual prowess. Infact, parents and pupils have come to look forward to the NEC as they keep calling to ask about the commencement,” Mrs Atta said.
“This year’s topic is particularly crucial as it tasks them to look at our country’s greatest asset which is our diversity, and devise ways to leverage it for unity, growth, and national development. We believe the young minds of today hold the key to a more harmonious and prosperous Nigeria,” she added.
Now in its 15th consecutive year, the competition has become one of the foundation’s flagship education initiatives, designed to inspire critical thinking, foster a vibrant reading culture, and empower the next generation of leaders to shape the future of the nation through reading and writing.
To also deepen its longstanding commitment to education and youth development, the foundation announced a significant increase in its educational grants, with the first-place winner receiving a university grant of N10 million to study at any African university of their choice, This amount represents a rise by 33 per cent compared with the N7.5 million winning prize of 2024, while the second-place and third-place winners will be awarded N7.5 million and N5 million grants, respectively, up from N5 million and N3.5 million won last year.