Wisdom David Fabunmi, a 200-level Physiotherapy student at the University of Ilorin, Kwara State, has won the 2026 NCDMB Essay Competition.
He received a ₦1 million cash prize, a brand-new laptop and a plaque.
Wisdom David Fabunmi emerged as the overall winner of the 10th edition of the NCDMB Annual National Undergraduate Essay Competition 2026.
The winners were unveiled at a colourful ceremony at the NCDMB Conference Centre, Yenagoa, Bayelsa State. The Management of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) underscored the strategic importance of youth development and local manufacturing in promoting sustainable local content and building a resilient economy.
Ms Joy Oghogho Enogieru, a 100-level Doctor of Optometry student of the University of Benin, was the first runner-up. She won the second prize of ₦700,000 cash, a laptop and a plaque.
Mr Ahmadu Kodan Yusuf, a 100-level Law student of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, won the third prize of ₦ 500,000 cash, a laptop, and a plaque.
The essay competition received about 5,000 entries from 52 universities across the country’s six geopolitical zones, with consolation prizes for the 4th to 9th place winners.
The Board notes that the competition has become an important platform for promoting research, analytical thinking, effective communication and intellectual engagement among undergraduates. This year’s focus was “Promoting Manufacturing for Sustainable Local Content Development.”
Representing the Executive Secretary of the NCDMB, Felix Omatsola Ogbe, at the grand finale of the award and prize-giving ceremony, the General Manager of the Corporate Communications Division (CCD), Dr Obinna Ezeobi, said the competition is particularly important to the Board. He explained that it contributes to the realisation of its mandate, which centres on the development of human and material capacity and the monitoring of compliance by players in the oil and gas industry.
He said the Board discharges its capacity building mandate through various programmes. These include Direct Intervention trainings for graduates and artisans in technical and non-technical skills, as well as project-based human capital development, which entails on-the-job training on live projects as required by the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act, 2010.
Ezeobi pointed out that universities are institutions where ideas should be developed, problems examined, innovations encouraged and solutions created for the advancement of society. That is why the Board undertook to engage students and encourage them to think critically and write about Nigerian Content. The ideas, commitment and ingenuity of youths, he noted, are crucial to the future of Nigerian Content.
Ezeobi said the Annual Undergraduate Essay Competition is connected to several other interventions the Board has for youths in higher institutions. These include the Research Centres of Excellence in the Federal University of Technology, Owerri; Federal University of Technology, Minna; Niger Delta University, Wilberforce Island, Bayelsa State; University of Port Harcourt, Choba; University of Ibadan, Ibadan; and Modibbo Adama University of Technology, Yola.
He also listed the Nigerian Engineering Olympiad (NEO), which inspires innovation among engineering students, with its maiden edition concluded in July 2026.
Other initiatives targeted at youths include specialised training programmes such as the Nigerian Oil and Gas Readiness Training, where 10,000 young Nigerians are being trained in the 10 top skills needed in the emerging new projects being developed by the industry. There is also the Catch-the-Researcher-Young Programme (CRYP), a digital research capacity development initiative designed to equip undergraduate students with modern technology skills, advanced research methods and industry-relevant digital competencies.
Ezeobi noted that the focus of this year’s essay competition on promoting manufacturing for sustainable local content development is intended to challenge participants to examine how Nigeria can strengthen its productive capacity and create greater economic value.
Manufacturing, he emphasised, is:
“The bedrock of sustainable local content development.”
He said the NCDMB established the Nigerian Oil and Gas Parks Scheme (NOGaPS):
“To incubate the manufacturing of components used by the oil and gas industry.”
According to him:
“It is also the reason we implement a policy known as Nigerian Content Equipment Commitment (NCEC), which compels companies to show proof that they manufacture components and have capacity to execute key activities.”
Earlier, in a welcome address, the programme consultant, Mr Eyinimi Omorozi, Chief Executive Officer of Mahogany 21st Century Concepts Limited, said the ceremony was a celebration of “a decade of investment in ideas by the NCDMB.” He expressed satisfaction with the output of the participants, adding, “From the essays of these young men and women, you can just tell that the future is very bright.”
Speaking on the sponsors, he said:
“NCDMB is not just building facilities and monitoring compliance; it is also building minds.”
In his opening remarks, the Chairman of the occasion, Professor Promise Mebine, Vice Chancellor of Federal University, Otuoke, congratulated the NCDMB on its successful hosting and sponsorship of the competition and for staying faithful to the vision.
He said:
“Year after year, you have proven that building Nigerian Content is not only about pipelines and platforms, but about building people, particularly our youths, the leaders of tomorrow.”
To winners, including Wisdom David Fabunmi, his words were:
“Your prize today is well-deserved, but the real prize is not the cheque or the plaque. The real prize is that NCDMB has now opened a door for you. Walk through it!”
To the other contestants, he said:
“You are not losers; every essay you submitted is a seed. You have trained your mind to think. You have trained your hand to write. Keep writing; keep researching; keep believing in Nigeria; Next year, the podium may be yours.”
In a goodwill message, the Director of the Monitoring and Evaluation Directorate (MED), Mr Esueme Dan Kikile, Esq., commended the Executive Secretary, the Corporate Communications Division and the programme consultant for all the effort toward sustaining the competition. He noted that it has been immensely beneficial to the Board and participants.
