LAGOS, NIGERIA– UBA Structure, the Business Social Responsibility arm of United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, has announced the beginning of the 2026 edition of its yearly National Essay Competition (NEC), with N41.5 million in instructional grants and prizes set aside for the top five winners.
Now in its 16th successive year, the competition is designed to supply senior secondary school students in Nigeria and across Africa with a chance to demonstrate their creativity, writing ability and vital believing while getting financial backing towards their university education.
A significant function of the 2026 edition is the growth of instructional grants to the fourth- and fifth-place winners for the first time, increasing the number of trainees who will receive monetary help through the competition.
The first-place winner will receive a N15 million university grant, representing a 50 per cent boost from the N10 million awarded to the winner in 2025.
The second-place winner will get N10.5 million, while the third-place winner will get N7.5 million.
For the very first time, the 4th- and fifth-place winners will also receive academic grants of N5 million and N3.5 million respectively.
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All five grants are intended to support the winners’ university education at any African university of their choice, offering the students with financial support as they progress to higher education.
Competitors Broadens Educational Opportunities
The growth of the reward structure marks a substantial modification in the 2026 edition of the National Essay Competition, especially with the inclusion of the fourth- and fifth-place winners among beneficiaries of academic grants.
The effort has, throughout the years, provided secondary school students with a platform to articulate their views on concerns of national and worldwide significance while developing their writing and analytical abilities.
Beyond the competitive element, the program also seeks to encourage youths to establish confidence in revealing their ideas and engaging seriously with problems affecting society.
By connecting the competitors to university education, the Structure is likewise offering winners with financial backing that can add to their scholastic development beyond secondary school.
The N41.5 million package covers the educational grants and rewards for the top 5 winners, with the increased first-place award and the intro of grants for fourth and fifth place forming the significant changes in this year’s edition.
Structure Declares Commitment To Youth Development
Talking about the initiative, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of UBA Foundation, Bola Atta, stated the competition shows the Structure’s commitment to empowering young Nigerians to contribute meaningfully to nationwide development.
Atta stated the National Essay Competitors has stayed a crucial platform for secondary school students to reveal their concepts and show their intellectual capabilities.
“For well over a years, the National Essay Competition has actually offered an important platform for our secondary school trainees to reveal their ideas and showcase their intellectual prowess,” she stated.
The competitors’s ongoing concentrate on creativity, composing skills and important thinking comes as trainees get ready for the shift from secondary education to university-level knowing, where analytical and interaction abilities remain important.
The 2026 edition therefore combines academic expression with financial support, providing trainees an opportunity to compete nationally while potentially protecting substantial assistance towards their university education.
With the extension of instructional grants to the 4th- and fifth-place winners, UBA Foundation has actually also widened the financial advantages offered through the competition.
The effort continues to place essay composing as a way of motivating young people to engage with essential problems, develop their intellectual abilities and get ready for future scholastic and expert duties.
The 2026 National Essay Competition consequently constructs on the Foundation’s 16-year history of using education-focused initiatives to support young people while developing opportunities for students to establish and showcase their skills.