UBA Foundation has announced the commencement of the 15th edition of its National Essay Competition for senior secondary school students across Nigeria.

This year’s topic is: “Nigeria is characterised by diverse cultures, ethnicities, and religions. How can young Nigerians deploy diversity to build a united nation?”

The Managing Director/CEO of UBA Foundation, Bola Atta, explain that to be eligible to participate, applicants must be Nigerian senior secondary school students who are interested and are required to complete the online application form, upload a handwritten essay of no more than 750 words on the given topic, attach a recent passport photograph, and provide a valid birth certificate, National ID card, or international passport.

”For the competition, students are required to research thoroughly, get their ideas together, write their essays, and submit the scanned copies of their entries through the digital portal on or before Friday, October 17, 2025.

The topic has been carefully chosen to encourage participants to put on their thinking caps, as they examine how the country’s diversity can be utilised as a tool for nation-building, unity, and long-term development, while also rekindling the dwindling reading culture amongst the youth.

To also deepen its longstanding commitment to education and youth development, the foundation announced a significant increase in its educational grants, with the first-place winner receiving a university grant of N10 million to study at any African university of their choice.

This amount represents a rise by 33 per cent compared to the N7.5m winning prize last year, while the second-place and third-place winners will be awarded N7.5 million and N5 million grants, respectively up from N5m and N3.5m won last year.

• Image credit: buradaki/Shutterstock

Astronomers say that a large near-Earth asteroid, 2025 FA22, is set to make a close but safe flyby of Earth on Thursday, September 18.

Forbes reported that the asteroid, roughly 120–280 meters in diameter — about the length of two football fields — will pass at a distance of 523,000 miles (842,000 kilometres), more than twice the distance between Earth and the Moon.

Scientists say such a close approach by an object of this size occurs on average once every 10 years.

“While this is an absolutely safe approach, it is still remarkable: a similarly close encounter, involving an object of that size coming that close, happens on average one time every 10 years,” said astronomer Gianluca Masi at The Virtual Telescope Project.

Discovered in March 2025 by the Pan-STARRS 2 telescope, 2025 FA22 was initially listed as a potential impact risk for 2089 but was later removed from the European Space Agency (ESA) Risk List after further observations refined its orbit.

The Nigerian Postal Service has intercepted a consignment containing seven pouches of cannabis concealed inside a duvet cover that arrived in Lagos from Thailand.

The shipment originated from Bangkok, Thailand, and was addressed to a recipient in Lagos.

Details of the sender and receiver have been withheld as investigations are ongoing by the appropriate Security Agencies.

This interception underscores NIPOST’s commitment to transforming the postal industry into a secure, reliable, and trusted channel of communication and commerce.

The agency is determined to protect the public from the dangers of illicit substances while safeguarding the integrity of the postal network.