THE Union of Campus Journalists (UCJ), University of Ibadan (UI) chapter, has announced an extension in the deadline for submission of entries for the fourth edition of its annual Inter-University Essay Contest.
Application for the contest was initially set to close on October 31, but has been shifted to November 30, 2019.
President of the UCJ, UI, Martins Isaac, said the fourth edition is the largest installment of the essay and it seeks to engage university students across the federation on the imperative subject of nation-building.
“UCJ, UI is proud to be spearheading this process of getting university undergraduates nationwide to inculcate the habit of thinking deeply and proffering solutions, rather than just whining and complaining, to the country’s problems,” he said.
He explained that contestants are required to discuss, ‘The Dire Need For Genuine National Development: Is Revolution A Solution?’ in a word limit of 1200.
Entries are to be in font size 12, 1.5 spacing and font type Times New Roman, are to be submitted in PDF format to ucjunibadan@gmail.com, along with the applicant’s short bio and scanned student identity card.
Launched in 2015, the 2019 edition comes with the highest prizes ever, as three winners will go away with the sum of N450, 000.
The first prize attracts N200, 000 plus an internship placement in a newspaper, while second and third prize go away with N150, 000 and N100,000 respectively.
Former president of the union, ‘Fisayo Soyombo, launched the maiden edition of the contest in 2007 but was only held once in the seven years that followed.
Speaking on the 2019 edition Soyombo said “It’s an honour to be the one to revive this contest and take it on as an annual pet project”.
“Back in 2007, with the help of the likes of Obianuju Okafor and Chinyere Chimodo-Okeh, we ran a contest that gave out a total prize money of N340,000 — N100,000 for the first-prize winner, N80,000 for the second, N60,000 for the third, and N20,000 each for five other finalists,” he said.
“I am finally happy that, for the first time, we’ve now reached a point where we’re surpassing the 2007 total prize money,” he added.
Simult Omoya, Kunle Adebajo and Kanyinsola Olorunisola won the prizes of the previous contest in 2015, 2016 and 2017 respectively.
Lukman Abolade is an Investigative reporter with The ICIR. Reach out to him via labolade@icirnigeria.org, on twitter @AboladeLAA and FB @Correction94