The UBA Foundation has opened entries for the 2026 edition of its National Essay Competition, with a total of N41.5 million in educational grants and prizes available to the top five winners.
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The competition, now in its 16th year, is open to senior secondary school students and is aimed at encouraging creativity, writing skills and critical thinking while supporting students in their pursuit of university education.
A major change in this year’s competition is the expansion of the prize structure to include educational grants for the fourth- and fifth-place winners for the first time.
The overall winner will receive a N15 million university grant, representing a 50 per cent increase from the N10 million awarded to the 2025 winner. The second-place winner will receive N10.5 million, while the third-place winner will receive N7.5 million.
The fourth- and fifth-place winners will receive N5 million and N3.5 million respectively. The grants can be used towards university education at any African university of the winners’ choice.
For the 2026 edition, participants are required to write on the topic, “No nation can develop without food security. How can Nigeria deal with this problem?”
The Foundation said the topic is intended to encourage students to examine Nigeria’s food security challenges and develop practical and sustainable solutions to the problem.
Speaking on the competition, UBA Foundation Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Bola Atta, said the initiative had continued to provide a platform for secondary school students to express their ideas and demonstrate their intellectual abilities.
She said the focus on food security was particularly important because young Nigerians would play a key role in determining the country’s future and finding solutions to challenges affecting national development.
Eligible applicants must be Nigerian senior secondary school students and are required to submit a handwritten essay of not more than 750 words through the competition’s digital portal.
Applicants must also complete the online application form and upload a recent passport photograph as well as a valid identification document, which may be a birth certificate, health-at-the-heart-of-its-open-learning-mission/">National Identity Card, or international passport.
The deadline for submission is Friday, October 23, 2026.
The National Essay Competition is one of UBA Foundation’s major education initiatives and forms part of its broader efforts to promote literacy, education and youth development across Africa.
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