Entries for this year’s edition of Bishop Mike Okonkwo National Essay Competition among junior and senior secondary school students nationwide have commenced and will run through Tuesday, June 30, 2026.

To participate in the competition, which is free to all students, participants are expected to submit an essay of not more than 1,200 words on a given topic and also state their full details comprising name, address, telephone number, school name, age, class, and the principal’s telephone number.

The students will write on the topic titled: ‘Democracy at the crossroads: Electoral credibility, judicial integrity and the future of Nigeria.’

Their entries will be assessed by an independent panel who are scholars constituted for the purpose.

In a statement signed by Mr Anthony Samuel for the Corporate Affairs Department, the essays are expected to be submitted in Word document format by email to a dedicated address given as essay@trem.org or the hard copies be hand-delivered at TREM International Headquarters, Gbagada, Lagos.

The competition offers reasonable cash prizes and gift items to the top three winners, and their schools will also be rewarded.

According to Anthony, while the overall winner is expected to go home with N800,000, a laptop, and a plaque, and the school to receive a desktop computer and trophy, the first and second runners-up will go home with N500,000, a laptop, and a plaque, as well as N400,000, a laptop, and a plaque respectively, and their schools to receive a desktop computer each.

This annual essay competition, with this year’s 21st edition, is part of Bishop Okonkwo’s corporate social responsibility initiatives aimed at fostering critical thinking and analytical skills in students to prepare them for success.

It also contributes to raising the standard of education in Nigeria.

Dr Mike Okonkwo is the Presiding Bishop of The Redeemed Evangelical Mission (TREM), and all the winners of the essay competition will be unveiled and rewarded at the annual lecture to commemorate his 81st birthday later in the year. (Nigerian Tribune)