Fifteen -year-old Eziaku Esther, a student of His Grace High School, Enugu state, Tuesday emerged the overall winner of the eleventh annual National Essay Competition (NEC).
The competition was organised by UBA Foundation, the CSR arm of the United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc in Lagos.
Esther emerged overall winner, beating eleven other finalists selected from over 7,000 entries received digitally by the UBA Foundation from students of senior secondary schools across Nigeria.
Esther won an educational grant of N3 million to study at any African university of her choice. She also received a brand-new state-of the-art laptop and many other educational tools from the UBA Foundation. She will be supported throughout her educational career and beyond with constant mentoring by the UBA Foundation.
The second prize was bagged by Nduka Chukwuemeka, male, aged 17, of Oxfords international School, Abia state, who won a N2,500,000 educational grant and a laptop; while the third prize of N2,000,000 and a brand new lap top went to 15-year old Hajarat Abdulwahab of Addy Basic School, Kano. The other 9 finalists also received brand new laptops as well as consolation prizes, including books and other learning materials.
The MD/CEO, UBA Foundation, Bola Atta, whilst congratulating the winners, commended them for their exceptional brilliance.
“Every student who sent in an entry is a winner. To be confident about your writing skills and ambitious enough to enter a competition to further enhance your educational path is laudable. For those that did not win, I would say do not be discouraged. Take it as a challenge to perfect your writing skills and enter for the competition again next year,” she said.
