E-Financial
UBA Foundation’s National Essay Competition 2019 to Reward Schools with Highest Entries
UBA Foundation, the corporate social responsibility arm of the United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, has commenced the 2019 edition of its annual National Essay Competition in Nigeria with a call for entries.
Now in its 9th year, the essay competition, targeted at senior secondary school students in Nigeria is organised annually, as part of UBA Foundation’s education initiative which is aimed at promoting the reading culture and encouraging healthy and intellectual competition amongst secondary school students in Nigeria and across Africa.
At the media launch which took place at UBA headquarters in Lagos, the call for entries was announced today.
Speaking at the event, Mrs. Bola Atta, chief executive officer, UBA Foundation, said the essay competition, which is in its ninth edition, will provide an opportunity for students in secondary schools across the country to put in their entries and to win prizes in the form of educational grants to study in any university of their choice on the African continent.
Beginning from last year, the prize money increased significantly as the UBA Foundation emphasises that education remains one of the foundation’s key initiatives.
The first prize for the UBA National Essay Competition is a N2 million educational grant, while the second and third prizes are N1.5 million and N1m educational grants respectively.
Speaking to the students and participants at the event, Bola Atta said, “To us at the Foundation, this is our drive to improve the quality of education across the continent.
It is also our way of giving back to the society. The competition is a key aspect of our investment drive in human capital, as we seek to improve knowledge base, allow students to express themselves and write creatively. We will continue to sustain the initiative because education is very important to UBA and we are more than committed to providing the necessary support for students in Nigeria and across the African continent,” she noted.
“We are driven by the mantra to do well and do good and we will not relent in our efforts to touch lives through our various projects, and initiatives,” Bola Atta told the excited students.
Explaining the modalities for the competition, she stated that entries received from students for the competition will be reviewed by a distinguished panel of judges made up of professors from reputable Nigerian Universities, who will then shortlist 12 best essays for further assessment.
Following this, a second round of the competition will involve the 12 finalists who will write a second supervised essay from which three best essays will be selected as the overall winners from the 12 finalists emerged from the first round of the competition.
Atta explained that the choice of essay for this year’s competition is one that helps promote creative and analytical thinking in students and helps them to be problem solvers. This year, the topic is “What do you think the government should do to control fraud in Nigeria?”
It is important to note that apart from Nigeria, the national essay competition has been taken to other African countries including Ghana and Senegal. More countries including Mozambique and Kenya will kick off the initiative this year. A unique component of this year’s edition is that, schools that turn in the highest number of entries will be recognised and rewarded a special prize by the Foundation.
Also speaking at the call to entries today, Ogechi Altraide, Group Head, Direct Sales Agency who spoke on the benefits of reading and writing essays, motivated the students to research into the topics and give it their best shot, adding that there is the need for them to focus on adapting themselves to happenings in their generation, and to have a growth mindset. This she explained, will ensure that they can apply themselves and conquer whatever challenges they are faced with.
According to her, reading and writing go hand in hand, and so it is important for students to keep abreast of how the economy can develop through reading and writing.
An English teacher from Holy Child College, Ikoyi, Mrs Ezechukwu Ngozi, gave the students tips on how to write good essays, and advised them to keep to the proper tenets of essay writing to come out tops in
As the CSR platform for the UBA Group, UBA Foundation embodies the Group’s CSR objectives and seeks to impact positively on societies through a number of laudable projects and initiatives.
Each year, the bank donates thousands of books to students in Nigeria and across Africa, under the ‘Read Africa’ initiative to encourage and promote the reading culture in secondary schools.
Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) has said more than 281 million depositors across the country’s banking system are protected against bank failure, following reforms that significantly expanded deposit insurance coverage and accelerated reimbursement of customers of failed banks.
Thompson Sunday, managing director and chief executive officer, NDIC, disclosed this on Monday during the second quarter 2026 Citizens and Stakeholders’ Engagement Session organised by the Federal Ministry of Finance in Abuja.
According to Sunday, the corporation currently provides deposit insurance coverage across 914 licensed financial institutions, while over 98 per cent of depositors are fully insured for their entire balances following the upward review of deposit insurance limits in May 2024.
A copy of his presentation document read, “914 licenced banks covered, every Deposit Money Banks, Non-Interest Banks, microfinance bank, Primary Mortgage Banks and Mobile Money Operators in Nigeria; more than 281 million bank depositors across all insured institutions are protected by the corporation.”
The NDIC boss said the improved coverage followed the first review of the Maximum Deposit Insurance Coverage since 2016.
Under the revised framework, insurance coverage for depositors in Deposit Money Banks increased from N500,000 to N5m, while customers of Microfinance Banks, Primary Mortgage Banks and Payment Service Banks now enjoy insurance cover of up to N2m. Mobile money subscribers are also covered up to N5m.
He said the reform resulted in 98.98 per cent of Deposit Money Bank customers being fully insured, compared with 89.2 per cent before the review, while full coverage for customers of Microfinance Banks, Primary Mortgage Banks and Payment Service Banks rose to 99.27 per cent, 99.34 per cent and 99.99 per cent respectively.
Sunday also highlighted improvements in the speed of reimbursing depositors after bank failures, saying technology had reduced payment timelines from years to days through the use of the Bank Verification Number.
He noted that the corporation has so far paid more than N54.93bn in insured deposits to Heritage Bank customers, reaching 698,040 depositors.
The NDIC boss also disclosed that in 2025 alone, the NDIC paid N4.06bn to 13,446 insured depositors and N33.59bn to uninsured depositors of failed banks.
Sunday said the reforms were reinforced by the NDIC Act 2023, which replaced the 2006 Act and strengthened the corporation’s powers to resolve failing banks, recover assets and protect depositors.
He said the law also gives depositors priority over creditors and shareholders during bank liquidation, strengthens the Deposit Insurance Fund and enhances the corporation’s asset recovery and enforcement powers.
The NDIC further disclosed that it carried out 287 on-site examinations of banks in 2025, resolved 1,196 out of 1,407 depositor complaints received during the year and continued off-site surveillance as an early warning mechanism in collaboration with the Central Bank of Nigeria.
It also noted that 32 banks met the March 31, 2026 recapitalisation deadline after raising more than N4.61tn in fresh capital, with the corporation supporting the CBN through capital verification, monitoring capital quality and identifying undercapitalised banks early.
Also speaking, Mr Raymond Omachi, permanent secretary of the Federal Ministry of Finance, said the engagement formed part of the ministry’s commitment to strengthening transparency, accountability and communication with citizens and key stakeholders.
According to Omachi, the platform enables the ministry to share its policies, programmes and achievements in implementing the Presidential Priorities and Ministerial Deliverables assigned to its agencies.
Omachi said, “This engagement is part of the Federal Ministry of Finance’s commitment to strengthening transparency, accountability, and communication with citizens and key stakeholders.
“As a critical component of the nation’s financial safety-net framework, the NDIC plays an important role in protecting depositors, promoting public confidence in the banking system, and contributing to the stability of the financial sector.”
Wema Bank Plc has suspended its operations on Telegram following a surge in scams involving fake accounts impersonating the bank and defrauding customers.
The bank disclosed this in an email to customers on Monday, urging them not to engage with any Telegram accounts impersonating Wema Bank.
This is coming amid Wema Bank’s effort to contain the increasing number of accounts impersonating the bank on social media in recent times.
On 7 June, Wema Bank temporarily blocked communication on its account X, citing the need to protect customers from fraudulent activities and account impersonation.
The lender urged customers to halt interactions with its ‘Wema’ and ‘Alat’ accounts on the platform until further notice.
On Monday, Wema Bank said its routine security checks revealed a spike in the rate of accounts impersonating the bank and trying to defraud its customers on Telegram.
The financial institution stated that its efforts to suspend its operations aim at protecting the interests of its customers, noting that its ALAT platform is not available on Telegram.
ALAT is the lender’s digital banking platform.
“Our routine checks and security sweeps have shown a spike in the rate of customers falling victim to scam accounts and fraudsters using fake Telegram accounts.
“As part of our ongoing efforts to proactively protect your interests, we want to remind you that Wema Bank and ALAT are NOT on Telegram,” the bank stated.
The move emphasises the growing cybersecurity threats facing Nigeria’s banking sector and other institutions in Nigeria.
Responding to the threat, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in March gave banks a three-week deadline to complete a mandatory cybersecurity self-assessment as part of efforts to strengthen the resilience of the country’s financial system.
CBN said the exercise is designed to improve risk-based supervision and strengthen regulatory oversight of cybersecurity risks across Nigeria’s financial ecosystem.
“We are not on Telegram. Please do not contact us on Telegram or engage with any Telegram account claiming to represent Wema Bank or ALAT. Please do not attempt to contact us on Telegram,” Wema Bank said, urging customers to contact the bank only through its verified Instagram account, official email address, and customer service phone lines.
OPay, fintech firm, has introduced two new security features, Emergency Lock and Safety PIN, to help customers protect their funds during emergencies and threats to their accounts.
The company said in a statement that the features were designed to give customers greater control over their money during security risks such as phone theft, robbery, account compromise, or forced transfers.
According to a statement by the firm, Emergency Lock allows customers to instantly freeze their OPay account with a single tap whenever they suspect a threat to their funds.
Once activated, the feature freezes the account for 24 hours, blocking all outgoing transactions, including transfers, bill payments, and card transactions.
The statement noted that the freeze, once triggered, cannot be lifted by the customer or OPay’s customer service team until the 24-hour period elapses.
On the Safety PIN, OPay said the feature allows customers to set up a unique PIN which, when entered, discreetly triggers a 24-hour account freeze without alerting anyone nearby, a tool particularly useful in situations where a customer is being coerced into making a transfer.
The company explained that while most financial security solutions focus on recovery after a fraud incident, the new features are designed to help customers prevent losses at the point a threat occurs.
Speaking on the development, Dotun Adekunle, chief operating officer and chief technology officer, OPay, said every innovation at the company starts with the goal of better protecting and serving customers.
Adekunle said the “features were developed to address real-life security challenges many Nigerians face daily,” adding that they were “designed to give customers immediate control over their finances during moments of uncertainty.”
He said OPay believes financial services should provide not just convenience, but also confidence, security, and peace of mind.
The statement added that customers can activate Emergency Lock and set up their Safety PIN through the Security Centre on the OPay app.
Established in 2018, OPay is licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and insured by the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC).
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