TheCable

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has awarded N1.2 million to winners of the third national essay competition. 

Umar Danbatta, executive vice-chairman of the NCC, handed over cash prizes to four winners in Abuja on Tuesday.

Danbatta said the rate of submissions shows the commission’s engagement with academia “is reaping rewards”.

He said the commission received over 1,820 submissions from students in 97 higher institutions in the country. 

Esther Gbeja Oluwabukola, a student of the University of Ilorin, Kwara state, took first place and was awarded N500,000, including a printer and laptop, while Edosa Moses Nosa, a student of the University of Port Harcourt who came in second place, was awarded N300,000.

MarcPatrick Efevuriri Efeni, a student of  Air Force Institute of Technology, Kaduna, and Abdulkarim Nasiru of Obafemi Awolowo University tied for the third position and were both awarded the sum of N200,000 each. 

“The third national NCC essay competition which is an initiative of the commission witnessed a huge rise in the number of essay scripts received from Nigerian students, as against the previous editions of the competition,” the NCC chairman said. 

“It was impressive to learn that the commission received well over 1,820 submissions from students in about 97 higher institutions from all across the country. This figure is a massive improvement, and the fact that the commissions’ continuous engagement with academia to be more involved with the development of Nigeria’s communications industry is reaping rewards.

“I was also ecstatic on learning that the first prize for the third NCC national essay competition will be going to a female student by the name Esther Gbeja Oluwabukola of the University of Ilorin, Kwara state.”

Edoyemi Ogoh, chairman of the NCC national essay competition, said the competition is “the commission’s way of encouraging Nigerian students to embrace information and communication technology (ICT)”.

See photos below.