UBA Foundation’s 2026 National Essay Competition remains one of the biggest opportunities for Nigerian secondary-school students this term, with ₦41 million in education grants on offer. But students trying to enter now face an important problem that should not be ignored: UBA’s official announcement says entries close on October 23, 2026, while the official competition page currently also displays “Application Closed.”
That contradiction means SurePass cannot responsibly tell students that the online form is definitely accepting submissions at this moment. What can be confirmed is the competition itself, the published October 23 deadline, the essay requirements and the prize structure. Students should use only UBA Foundation’s official page and verified channels while waiting for the portal status to be clarified.
The 2026 Topic, Eligibility and ₦41m Prize Pool
The UBA essay competition 2026 is open to Nigerian senior secondary school students. The essay topic is: “No Nation Can Develop Without Food Security. How Can Nigeria Deal With This Problem?”
The essay must be handwritten and must not exceed 750 words. Applicants are required to complete the online application form and upload the handwritten essay, a recent passport photograph and one accepted identity document — a birth certificate, National ID card or international passport.
UBA Foundation says the first stage will select 20 top essays. Those finalists then proceed to a physical test from which five winners will emerge.
- 1st place: ₦15 million university education grant.
- 2nd place: ₦10.5 million.
- 3rd place: ₦7.5 million.
- 4th place: ₦5 million.
- 5th place: ₦3.5 million.
The 2026 edition expands the award to fourth- and fifth-place winners and raises the first prize significantly compared with the previous year.
What Students Should Do About the ‘Application Closed’ Message
The official competition page is UBA Foundation’s National Essay Competition page. As of this update, the page contains the 2026 topic, requirements and October 23 deadline, but it also displays an “Application Closed” status.
Students should not respond to that inconsistency by uploading documents to an unofficial Google Form, WhatsApp number or third-party website. The safer approach is to keep the essay and required documents ready, recheck the official page, and follow any clarification UBA Foundation publishes through its verified channels.
The competition announcement itself remains live on UBA’s official website and clearly states that eligible students are expected to submit on or before October 23. Because the portal display conflicts with that statement, the issue could be a temporary site-state problem, an early closure or another administrative change. Only UBA Foundation can resolve that conflict.
Students can use the waiting period productively. Draft the response around a clear argument: define Nigeria’s food-security problem, identify the causes, explain the consequences and propose realistic solutions. The physical final means entrants should write in their own voice and be able to reproduce the quality of their thinking without outside assistance.
SurePass will treat the UBA essay competition 2026 as open in principle only to the extent supported by UBA’s published October 23 deadline, but students should confirm that the official application form itself is accepting entries before assuming a submission has gone through.
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