The Love in Action Foundation Essay Competition gives the winning writer a full undergraduate tuition scholarship that runs until graduation. It is open to students of government-owned universities and polytechnics in Nigeria, in any faculty and at any level. The 2026 edition closed on 24 August 2026, and the deadline to plan for is 24 August 2027.
The competition is linked to Pastor Steve Ogah, and many students know it as the Steve Ogah Essay Competition. The 2026 call asked for an essay of up to 2,000 words on using artificial intelligence to solve a real Nigerian problem. The window was short, only a few days between the announcement and the deadline, so the students who placed well were the ones who had a draft ready.
Love in Action Foundation Essay Competition summary
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Organiser | Love in Action Foundation (Steve Ogah Essay Competition) |
| Prize | Full undergraduate tuition scholarship until graduation |
| Who can enter | Undergraduates in government-owned Nigerian universities and polytechnics, any faculty, any level |
| 2026 theme | From Consumption to Creation: Empowering Young Nigerians to Solve Real Problems with Artificial Intelligence |
| Length | Up to 2,000 words, cover details not counted |
| Authors | One author per essay |
| How to submit | Google Form |
| Deadline | 24 August 2027 |
Love in Action Foundation Essay Competition deadline and past themes
| Edition | Theme | Word limit |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | From Hashtags to Action: Gen Z’s Blueprint for a Better Nigeria | 1,500 words |
| 2026 | From Consumption to Creation: Empowering Young Nigerians to Solve Real Problems with Artificial Intelligence | 2,000 words |
| Item | Date |
|---|---|
| Deadline | 24 August 2027 |
Deadline: 24 August 2027 (based on this year’s date; confirm on the official page when the call opens). The 2024 edition ran from 2 September to 2 October, while 2026 ran in August, so follow the foundation and the listing sites from July.
Short window
The 2026 call was posted only five days before its deadline. Five days is not enough time to research and write 2,000 good words, so start your draft before the call comes out.
Who can enter the Love in Action essay competition
- School type: you must be enrolled in a government-owned (federal or state) university or polytechnic in Nigeria. Private university students are not covered.
- Level: any level, from 100 level upwards.
- Course: any faculty. The two essay categories give each field a natural home.
- Authorship: one student per essay. Joint entries are not accepted.
2026 theme and the two categories
The 2026 essay asked you to pick one serious national problem and show how AI could help solve it in a practical and realistic way. You entered under one category only.
| Category | Suggested fields | Example problem areas |
|---|---|---|
| 1. AI for Science, Technology and Innovation | Engineering, Computer Science, IT, Agriculture, Medicine, Environmental Science, Mathematics, Physical Sciences | Smart farming, healthcare, energy, climate, transport, manufacturing, infrastructure |
| 2. AI for Governance and Social Impact | Political Science, International Relations, Law, Economics, Sociology, Education, History, Communication Studies | Public services, security, education reform, poverty, economic inclusion, transparency, elections, community development |
The foundation still describes “From Hashtags to Action: Gen Z’s Blueprint for a Better Nigeria” as its flagship competition, and each year adds its own focus.
Essay format and required structure
Format rules
| Rule | 2026 requirement |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Length | Maximum 2,000 words, excluding the cover information |
| Font | Times New Roman, size 12 |
| Spacing and alignment | 1.5 line spacing, fully justified |
| First page | Your name, institution, email, phone number, essay title and chosen category |
| Originality | Original, unpublished, written by you alone |
| AI writing tools | Essays written wholly or largely with generative AI are disqualified |
| Publishing rights | The organisers may publish your essay; you keep ownership |
The rule on AI tools matters here because the topic is AI. You can write about AI without letting a chatbot write for you. Do your thinking and drafting yourself, and keep your notes and early drafts in case you are asked about your work.
Sections the essay had to follow
- Introduction: the problem in one or two short paragraphs.
- Definition of the national challenge: who it affects, where and how badly. Use Nigerian figures where you can find them.
- Current limitations: why existing efforts have not fixed it.
- Proposed AI-based solution: what the system does, in plain terms.
- Implementation roadmap: who would run it, what AI technology it needs, what resources or partners it needs, what could go wrong and how success would be measured.
- Expected impact: what changes, for whom and how soon.
- Conclusion: a short close that ties back to the problem.
The roadmap is where most entries are weak. A judge can tell quickly whether you have thought about cost, data, electricity, internet access and who would own the project. I would give that section about a quarter of the word count.
How to submit your essay
- Read the new call: check the 2027 theme, categories and format on the foundation’s information page (pso-essay.netlify.app) and the listing sites.
- Write offline: draft in a word processor using Times New Roman 12, 1.5 spacing and justified text.
- Add the cover details: name, institution, email, phone number, title and category on the first page.
- Check the word count: stay within the limit, not counting the cover details.
- Submit on the form: the 2026 entries went through this Google Form. Use the link in the 2027 call if it changes.
- Keep proof: save the confirmation screen or email.
Applying is free. Never pay anyone who offers to submit, “fast track” or guarantee your application.
How to prepare before the 2027 call opens
- Pick two problems you know well from your own state or campus, and collect facts on them now.
- Read one or two short reports on AI projects already working in Africa so your solution sounds realistic.
- Write a 1,500 word practice essay using the seven sections above. When the call opens, you will only need to adjust it to the new theme.
- Ask a lecturer in your field to read your roadmap section and point out what would fail in practice.
How to write a winning Love in Action essay
The organisers have not published a marking scheme. The 2026 brief, though, tells you what they value: one real national problem, a practical and realistic AI solution, and a roadmap with people, resources, risks and measures. Judges reading hundreds of entries will reward an essay that is specific, local and honest about limits.
Suggested word budget for 2,000 words
| Section | Approximate words |
|---|---|
| Introduction | 150 |
| Definition of the national challenge | 300 |
| Current limitations | 250 |
| Proposed AI-based solution | 350 |
| Implementation roadmap | 500 |
| Expected impact | 300 |
| Conclusion | 150 |
A sample opening
Start with a scene or a number your reader can picture, then state the problem in one line. For example:
“Every rainy season, farmers in my village in Benue lose part of their yam harvest to rot they cannot see coming. They have phones, but no one has given those phones anything useful to say about the soil. This essay proposes a low-cost AI tool that reads photos of crops and sends early warnings in Tiv and English.”
Treat that as a model for shape only. Your strongest material is a problem you have lived near, since you can describe it with detail a judge has not read in other entries.
What tends to separate strong entries
- A narrow problem: “late diagnosis of malaria in rural Kogi” beats “healthcare in Nigeria”.
- Cited figures: name your source in the text, for example a NBS, NCDC or World Bank figure, with the year.
- Nigerian constraints: power supply, data costs, language and trust. Show how your plan works around them.
- A pilot, not a national rollout: one local government, one school, one market. Then explain how it scales.
- Measurable success: fewer lost harvests, shorter queues, more completed forms, with a target number.
Eligibility edge cases
- Final year students: you can enter, but a tuition prize “until graduation” is worth less with one year left.
- ND and HND students at public polytechnics: eligible, since polytechnics are named. Whether the prize continues from ND into HND has not been published.
- Colleges of education: not named in the call. If you attend one, ask the organisers before writing.
- Part-time or sandwich students: the call does not say. Check the 2027 rules.
- Using AI for research: the ban covers essays written wholly or largely with generative AI. Using a search engine or reading reports is normal research; letting a chatbot draft paragraphs is what gets entries disqualified.
Common mistakes
- Writing about AI in general instead of one problem.
- Skipping or renaming the required sections.
- Going over the word limit, or using a different font and spacing.
- Forgetting the cover details, or entering under both categories.
- Promising a solution that needs billions of naira and constant power with no plan for either.
- Submitting on the last evening, when the form may already be closed.
What happens after you submit
The organisers have not published a results date, the number of winners, whether there is an interview or presentation stage, or how tuition is paid (to the student or straight to the school). Expect contact by the email and phone number on your cover page, so keep both active. If you win, ask for the payment arrangement and any renewal conditions in writing. Your essay may also be published by the organisers, though you keep ownership.
Costs the prize does not cover
The prize is described as a tuition scholarship. At public institutions, tuition is often only part of what you pay each year, so plan for the rest yourself:
- Accommodation, feeding and transport
- Other school charges listed separately from tuition on your fee schedule
- Books, laptop and data
- SIWES, field trips and project costs
How it compares with other awards
| Award | What you get | How you win | Deadline |
|---|---|---|---|
| Love in Action Essay Competition | Full tuition until graduation | Best essay on the set theme | 24 August 2027 |
| Carewave Aspire Scholarship | ₦500,000 a year | Application, federal university students | 9 November 2026 |
| SOHCAHTOA Foundation Scholarship | Up to ₦250,000 a year | Application and aptitude test, CGPA 3.5 | 30 August 2027 |
| Ejiro M Ukiri Scholarship Fund | Up to ₦150,000 | Short essay, SS3 leavers with admission | 30 September 2027 |
Who should enter, and who should not
Enter if you study at a public university or polytechnic, you write clearly in English, and you have a real problem you can describe from experience. Your CGPA is not part of the published rules, so a strong writer with average grades has a fair chance here.
Skip it if you attend a private university, you are in your final semester, or you were planning to let an AI tool write the essay. That last route is the quickest way to be disqualified.
If you would rather apply for a straight scholarship with no essay contest, look at the Carewave Aspire Scholarship for federal university students and the Decagon Undergraduate Scholarship.
FAQ
What is the prize for the Love in Action Foundation Essay Competition?
The winner gets a full undergraduate tuition scholarship that continues until graduation. The organisers have not published a naira value or the number of winners.
Can private university students enter the Steve Ogah essay competition?
No. Entry is for students of government-owned universities and polytechnics in Nigeria, in any faculty and at any level.
What is the word limit for the Love in Action essay?
The 2026 limit was 2,000 words, excluding cover details. The 2024 edition allowed 1,500 words, so check the new call.
When is the Love in Action essay competition deadline?
The deadline is 24 August 2027. Confirm the date when the foundation publishes the new call.
Sources and updates
This post uses the 2026 call as published by the foundation and listed by ScholarshipAir, the foundation’s information page and its Google Form, plus the 2024 Steve Ogah Essay Competition call as listed by Boldscholar News and Studentship. Where the editions differ, such as the word limit, I have given both. The application form and call published by the organisers are final. Last checked 24 October 2026; I will update this page when the 2027 call is announced.
I am Jude Chinecherem, a final-year MBBS student at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. I know what it feels like to want an education your family cannot afford. When my parents could not pay for my schooling, I had to learn how to find scholarships and work the system out on my own, with nobody to guide me. I came out the other side, and now I share everything I learned so the next student does not have to figure it out alone. This is the advice I wish someone had given me back then.
