A 15-year-old pupil, Chukwuazolum Adaeze, from Fountain Heights Secondary School, Surulere, Lagos, has emerged winner of the 13th edition of the United Bank of Africa National Essay Competition.
The National Essay Competition, featuring 12,000 entries from all over Africa, narrowed down to 12 pupils from different schools who competed in the final round on November 20, 2023. The competition concluded with 15-year-old Chukwuazolum Adaeze, claiming the top spot and a N5 million prize.
Speaking to journalists, the winner, Chukwuazolum Adaeze, expressed her excitement, stating, "I never expected this. I thought I was going to be the second runner-up. I was confident in myself, but I never knew I was going to be the winner. I am so surprised, grateful, and thankful."
Addressing the challenges of the competition, she mentioned, "The most challenging thing will be the interpretation of the topic because the topics are not easy. You have to interpret them well; otherwise, you will get it wrong. Aside from that, everything went well."
The Group Managing Director of the United Bank for Africa, Oliver Alawuba, presented cash prizes and gifts to the winners, with the first position receiving N5 million, the second N3.5 million, and the third N2.5 million. Other winners received additional prizes. Alawuba emphasized that the essay aimed to sharpen children's critical thinking skills beyond the continent.
Reflecting on the competition's entries, Professor Ini Uko, one of the judges from the University of Uyo, noted that this year marked the highest number of entries in the competition's 13-year history. She stated, "We had over 12,000 entries, and the awareness is now quite extensive among the students." Professor Uko highlighted the meticulous judging process undertaken by a panel of four judges who traveled to Lagos to select the top 12 essays.
Regarding plagiarism detection, Professor Uko explained, "It's very easy to do that. Many Nigerian students may explore the internet, so we focused on parameters that confirmed reasonable originality. Checking for originality was a major concern for us during the evaluation."
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