The Nigeria Higher Education Foundation (NHEF) is pleased to announce the winners of the 2nd Annual Scholarship Essay Competition. This year’s competition challenged students to explore and articulate the nexus between higher education and the development of Nigeria’s economy. The Essay topics for the competition were:
- “The educated differ from the uneducated as much as the living from the dead”-Aristotle. Discuss the validity of this statement.
- Explore the relationship between a developed higher education sector and long-term economic growth?
- What is the role/function of innovation versus tradition in Nigeria’s development?
This year, we received a record number of submissions and judges awarded prizes to student who offered unique insight and perspective on their topic of choice. We would like to congratulate the Grand Prize winner, Adebajo Adekunle, a student of the Department of Law at The University of Ibadan. In his essay, he clearly articulated the importance of education in modern society by assessing the validity of the Aristotelian Statement, “The Educated differ from the Uneducated as much as the Living from the Dead”. Below is an excerpt from his essay:
“The facts speak for themselves when we consider the huge impact education has in the lives of the members of a given society. Consistently, those who have been hammered into shape by the refining processes of the academics are observed to be more well-to-do than others regardless of their initial background. It follows then that education is an indispensable tool not only for human development but also socio-economic advancement”.
Our first runner-up, Chinazo Nnacheta, a student of the Department of Geography at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka submitted an essay on the topic “Explore the relationship between a developed higher education sector and long-term economic growth?”. It was a stellar piece on the contribution of tertiary education to the Nigeria’s economic success through the production of skilled workers that enhance the conditions for innovation and other substantial socio-economic benefits. Finally, Oyintare Jennifer Abang, our second runner-up and a student at the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Port Harcourt constructed logical argument on education as a life redefining tool citing real-life instances to validate the Aristotelian statement “The Educated differ from the Uneducated as much as the Living from the Dead”.
The NHEF congratulates these students on their achievements. We also thank all applicants for their participation and hope to continue our efforts in preparing the next generation of leaders.