The National Emergency Management Agency has unveiled its 2026 National Essay Competition, with a total prize pool of ₦3 million to be shared among nine winners across three categories.
According to the agency, the competition seeks to deepen awareness and participation in disaster risk reduction, climate resilience, and emergency response strategies among young Nigerians.
In a post shared by the agency via X on Sunday, NEMA announced that the competition is open to three key groups: secondary school students nationwide, undergraduates in tertiary institutions, and NYSC Emergency Management Volunteers.
Participants are expected to submit original essays addressing specific themes tailored to each category.
NEMA is inviting entries in three categories, each with a specific topic and word limit.
The topic for secondary school students is “My Role in Disaster Risk Reduction,” with a maximum of 500 words.
For tertiary undergraduates, the topic is “Climate Change and Disaster Management in Nigeria,” with a maximum word limit of 1,000 words.
NYSC Emergency Management Volunteers are to write on “Technology for Disaster Response: Opportunities and Challenges,” in not more than 1,000 words.
The agency said all submissions must be sent via email to [email protected] on or before Tuesday, April 15, 2026.
It announced prizes for each category as ₦500,000, ₦300,000, and ₦200,000 for 1st place, 1st runner-up, and 2nd runner-up, respectively.
This brings the total prize pool to ₦1 million for each category and ₦3 million across the three categories.
“Essays should be sent in as a Word document using Times New Roman, size 12, as font type.
“Entry should include the full name of contestant, category, details of their school or NYSC deployment,” the agency stated.
NEMA added that entries will be assessed based on relevance to the topic, originality of ideas, and clarity of structure.
