The National Emergency Management Agency has announced the launch of its 2026 National Essay Competition, offering a total prize pool of ₦3 million to be shared among nine winners across three categories.
According to the agency, the competition is designed to promote greater awareness and engagement among young Nigerians on issues related to disaster risk reduction, climate resilience, and emergency response strategies.
In a post shared on X on Sunday, NEMA stated that the competition is open to three groups: secondary school students across Nigeria, undergraduate students in tertiary institutions, and NYSC Emergency Management Volunteers.
Participants are required to submit original essays addressing specific themes assigned to each category, with defined word limits.
For secondary school students, the essay topic is “My Role in Disaster Risk Reduction,” with a maximum length of 500 words.
Undergraduate students in tertiary institutions are expected to write on “Climate Change and Disaster Management in Nigeria,” with a word limit of 1,000 words.
For NYSC Emergency Management Volunteers, the topic is “Technology for Disaster Response: Opportunities and Challenges,” also with a maximum of 1,000 words.
NEMA stated that all entries must be submitted via email to [email protected] on or before April 15, 2026.
The agency announced that winners in each category will receive ₦500,000 for first place, ₦300,000 for first runner-up, and ₦200,000 for second runner-up.
This means each category will have a prize allocation of ₦1 million, bringing the total prize value to ₦3 million across the three categories.
According to the agency, essays must be submitted as a Microsoft Word document using Times New Roman font, size 12.
Entries must also include the contestant’s full name, category, and details of their school or NYSC place of deployment.
NEMA added that submissions will be evaluated based on relevance to the topic, originality of ideas, and clarity of structure.
