Competitions & Programmes - Page 2 of 12

2024 POSITIVENAIJA ESSAY COMPETITION

The 2024 PositiveNaija Essay Competition aims to promote: the culture of creativity, innovation, service and excellence; the dignity, safety and prosperity of Nigerians; Nigerian patriotism; impactful scholarship; and nation building.

Title of Essay:

The Pinnacle of Nigerian Excellence!

Objective:

Inform the world on the highest level of Nigerian inventiveness in any area of life with genuine impact on human dignity, safety and national development today.

Eligibility:

Essay submissions are free – at no cost to the participants
Open to all persons of any nationality
Participants and winners of the previous PositiveNaija initiatives can still participate
PositiveNaija Team and the Advisory Judges are not eligible [excluding the Volunteers – who have no involvement in the organisation of the event]

2024 PositiveNaija Essay Competition

Essay format:

Maximum of 1,500 words (excluding references).
At the beginning or end of the essay, state only your full names, nationality, email and telephone number(s).
Must be submitted in both MS Word & Portable Document format (PDF).

Essay expectations:

One (1) essay submission per person.
Must be original, no plagiarism and not previously published.
The competition language and the language of entries is English.
Truth, logical consistency, facts with reliable references, narrative structure/organisation, creativity/initiative.
Once an essay is submitted, it is considered a final submission and may not be modified, edited, or replaced.

Reward [cash prizes]:

1^st prize: ₦70,000
2^nd prize: ₦50,000
3^rd prize: ₦30,000

Reward [certificates]:

Top 10

Reward [publication]:

Top 10 essays are published on the PositiveNaija website.

Timelines:

- Submission dates by participants: July 1 – 7, 2024.
- PositiveNaija review and submit Top 10 best entries to Advisory Judges: July 10 – August 10, 2024.
- Blind review by Advisory Judges who shall [individually] assess, grade and rank the entries: August 10 – 30, 2024.
- Decision on top 10 entries by Advisory Judges are published (without ranking) on the Competition Page: 1st September 2024.
*Decisions by the Judges are final and are not subject to legal appeal
- Profiles of the top 10 participants are requested and top 4th – 10th are published: September 1 – 4, 2024
- The audience will then determine the final ranking for Positions 4th – 10th with an open and public online vote – multiple votes are allowed: September 5 – 11, 2024.
- PositiveNaija collates; prepares and issue certificates: September 12 – 18, 2024.
- The audience will then determine the final ranking and winner (top 3) with an open and public online vote – multiple votes are allowed: September 19 – 25, 2024.
- PositiveNaija collates and prepares certificates: September 26 – 30, 2024.
- Wole Joshua & Co. audits entire competition process: July – September 30, 2024.
- Overall winner (and essay)/results are declared/published on 1^st October 2024.
- Payments made and certificate issued to winners on 1^st October 2024.

Sponsorship:

We welcome sponsorships for the 2024 PositiveNaija Annual Essay Competition. Identifying, supporting and partnering with us on this competition is a testament to your personal, institutional or corporate conviction on the greatness, development and potentials of Nigeria/Nigerians.

For transparent and accountability purposes, every sponsorship for this competition received shall be made available on the blog [for privacy, sponsors can choose to use the initials of their names] (SEE ANNEX 3 below). We shall also provide up-to-date progress report to you.

Your support – financial or service-oriented, could therefore be targeted to the following areas (SEE ANNEX 2 below for account details and guidance):

Prizes: Top 1 – 10 Essays (Target: 10 million Naira)
Media/Publicity (Target: 3 million Naira)
Administrative/Logistics (Target: 2 million Naira)
General/Overarching – If your support is targeted to the general/overarching running of the competition, we will ensure equity in its distribution to the entire competition process.

We are committed to making the PositiveNaija Annual Essay Competition, the most rewarding educational prize competition in Nigeria.

Submission:

Email: positivenaija@yahoo.com

Deadline: 7 July 2024 | 11:59 PM (GMT +1)

Information:

We offer our sincere apologies for the unprecedented delay in the 2024 PositiveNaija Essay Competition, which was due to not getting the advisory judges on time.

As at 7th of October 2024, we now have the reviews/grading by the advisory judges completed and this means a new timeline schedule of the progress of the essay competition. By the way, only two (2) entries qualified as the top essays instead of ten (10) out of the 30 entries received.

The audience will then determine the final ranking and winner (top 3) with an open and public online vote – multiple votes are allowed: October 8 – 14, 2024.
PositiveNaija collates and prepares certificates and overall winner (and essay)/results are declared/published on 15th of October 2024.
Payments made and certificate issued to winners on 15th of October 2024.

Advisory Judges (4):

Professor Evans Osabuohien

He is a Professor of Economics and the former Head, Department of Economics & Development Studies at Covenant University, Ota, Nigeria. He is the Founding Chair & Lead Economist, DePECOS Institutions and Development Research Centre [DIaDeRC] where he coordinates the African Scholars Mentorship Network (ASMN) with over 550 members trained in various Series.

Emmanuella Edun

Poet, Writer, 4-Time Author, Behavioral Capacity Development Consultant, Teens Life-coach and Founder/Chairman, Plant A Book Tree Foundation.

Onyinye Tella Ogbuka

Onyinye Tella Ogbuka is an education enthusiast, advocate for positive parenting, and passionate supporter of Africa-themed literature, currently serving as the Director of Learning at Hiprep.

As an educator, Tella approaches each learning experience with the mindset of a sailor navigating uncharted waters, treating every journey as a unique challenge. With learners at the centre, she collaborates with teachers and parents to foster curiosity, self-discovery, and meaningful growth. Through her emphasis on Africa-themed literature, Tella’s goal is to ensure that every Nigerian child, regardless of background, is exposed to quality texts they can easily relate to, while also broadening their perspectives and exploring the world through books.

Tella is committed to the effective acquisition and application of knowledge. Leading a team of highly skilled educators, she ensures that up-to-date information, tools, and resources are available to facilitate genuine learning and effective knowledge transfer.

David Jacobs

My name is David Jacobs, I am an Educator, a Brand Consultant and a Life Coach.

Advisory judges for the 2024 PositiveNaija Essay Competition

Acceptance of Terms

By participating you declare that you accept these terms and conditions.

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ANNEX 1 – Voting Rights and Weights

*The Advisory Judges shall grade each entry with a total of 100

*The grades of the Advisory Judges shall have 99% (0.99) voting weight

*The audience can vote as many times possible

*The votes of the audience shall have a 1% (0.01) voting weight

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ANNEX 2 – Sponsorship Guide

*Account information (Bank name: Access Bank; Account name: Toju Ogbe; Account number: 0006376703)

* Use ‘2024 PositiveNaija Essay’ as support description. You can also send an email/sms indicating your support provided.

*We do not accept cash; please make all financial contributions via the account information provided.

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ANNEX 3 – 2024 PositiveNaija Essay Competition Sponsors

*Only received contributions of support are listed below in the order they come in/we receive them.

Institutions

Name	Contribution	Category
Wole Joshua & Co.	Event Process Auditing	Administrative/Logistics

Individuals

Name	Contribution	Category

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ANNEX 4 – Status of Entries (press release)

Total number of entries: 30
Nationalities: Nigerians (29) and 1 Pakistan
Names do not imply their positions in the Competition (rather, largely in the order they were received) unless otherwise stated.
We are willing to provide feedback to all who did not make it as a finalist or winner – the reason why (as far as they request for it via email or WhatsApp).

Names of participants