No winner or finalist has emerged in the 2021 PositiveNaija Essay Competition, themed: The Power of the Nigerian People!
The 2021 PositiveNaija Essay Competition (July 1 – October 1, 2021) is purposed towards informing the world on the genuine value of the collective success/prosperity of Nigerians towards good governance and a life of dignity both nationally and internationally today.
The 2021 PositiveNaija Essay Competition aims to promote: the collaborative and coordinated capabilities and strength of Nigerians in influencing governance for good; human dignity; Nigerian patriotism; impactful scholarship as well as serve as a platform for excellence!
According to the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of PositiveNaija, Mr. Toju Micheal Ogbe:
“We thank God Almighty as always as we are once again pleased with another realization and success of the annual essay competition (now in its fifth edition) – even with no finalist or winner.
This edition further proved instrumental in improving on the applied strategy, organisation, set objective and engagements by the participants. Notably, the voting weights were reviewed with the Advisory Judges having 99% and the public, 1%.
The number and quality of entries received could/can be better but we are confident that the culture of reading, valuable research and interest in the positive progress and excellence as well as hope by Nigerians is increasing.
The theme of this year’s essay competition is a very crucial one at this time – particularly in the areas of building collective trust and collaborations among Nigerians for a better governed society and dignity of life.
I believe in no small measure that certain salient but highly relevant revelations on factors contributing to good governance, human dignity and prosperity of Nigerians and Nigeria as a country have been unveiled through some of these essays and should be further amplified with sincere, practicable and profound courage as well as convictions.
Some of these factors include: the unity of purpose, the role of organized interest groups/associations; the power of the press/media; the effectiveness of social media; the relevance of protests/demonstrations; etc.
And as noted by Ayodeji Tahir Olowolagba in his essay, these factors also include: ‘… vibrant entrepreneurial classes, a broad intelligentsia and numerous centers of higher education, a dynamic legal community and judiciary, diverse and often outspoken media, and, increasingly, courageous human rights organizations.’
Although the opportunity also was very well present for a winner to emerge, certain notable factors attributed to why no winner or finalist emerged in this year’s edition of the competition were largely due to a number of limitations in the essays received including the following reasons: logical and narrative inconsistency; instances of lack of reliable/relevant references by participating writers; spelling and grammatical errors; false information; genuine value of the essay objective not profound with little or no linkage to the reality on ground today as most essays largely appeared to be – off-topic, descriptive, lamentational, historical or suggestive; late submissions; etc.
As we have always communicated and done even for every edition of the essay competition, when requested only by the participants, we would provide feedback to all who did not make it as a finalist or winner – the specific reason(s) why as pertaining to their essays.
Our essay competition is a long-term vision towards becoming the most rewarding essay competition in Nigeria – not just financially but most importantly, upholding the values of purposeful insight, critical-thinking, transparency and accountability.
We appreciate the writers of the essays we received this year (21 in total – 21 Nigerians). We appreciate their courage, trust and hope in a greater Nigeria, their intellectual brilliance as well as their confidence in our execution.
Once again, we thank profoundly Dr. Mrs. Tayo Ola George, Ms. Oladoyin Abiona, Dr. Obiajulu Nnamuchi and Mr. Sanni Alausa-Issa, for their swift interest, wisdom, time and intellectual support committing and continuing as Advisory Judges for the essay competition this year.
We also express our heartfelt gratitude to our team, sponsor for this year’s essay competition – Wole Joshua and Co. [competition process auditor], Cliff Agba Art Studio [art piece for the winner] as well as contributors/advisors [Elijah Ezaga, Esther Oladayo, family and many others] for their kind contributions; a testament of their belief in our vision and mission.
We also appreciate every person and institution genuinely committed to elevating and defending the dignity, safety and prosperity of Nigeria and Nigerians globally in their own little way.
We look forward to more remarkable editions in the future and further improvement in every aspect. Thank you.”
For more information on the competition, including the names of the participants, profile of the advisory judges, sponsorship contributions received, etc., see the official competition page.
The 2020 edition, themed “The Purpose of Nigeria!” was won by Femi-Lawal Victor – with 153 entries received.
The 2019 edition of the PositiveNaija Essay Competition, themed “The Value of the Life of a Nigerian!” had no finalist and winner – with 57 entries received.
The 2018 edition, themed “The Love of a Nigerian!” was won by Miss Akunna James-Ibe – with 77 entries received.
The 2017 edition, which was the first edition, themed “How Great Is Nigeria!” was won by Mr. Olawale Lekan Christopher – with 46 entries received.
PositiveNaija is a multimedia institution; committed to good news, positive and constructive journalism on the progress and excellence culture of Nigeria and Nigerians globally.
With the vision of inspiring hope and pride in every Nigerian, it is a platform dedicated to informing the world on the truly impactful, positive, valuable, inspiring, educative and worthy updates associated with Nigeria and Nigerians globally based on consistent objectivity and excellence. The aim is to positively – inspire, educate and redefine the standards of Nigeria’s values based system.
As a human-centered enterprise, the mission of PositiveNaija is to continuously strive towards creating a good, well-informed and empathetic society for Nigeria and Nigerians through news management and impactful initiatives.
