NEST Essay Competition

To mark her 25th Anniversary, the Nigerian Environmental Study/Action Team (NEST), offers this Essay Competition for the youth (ages 14 – 30 years). Essays (not more than 10, 000 words) on the topic ‘THE NIGERIAN ENVIRONMENT AND HUMAN SECURITY’ are invited from the youth in three categories:

1) Secondary school students

2) Undergraduates, and

3) Postgraduate students and young graduates

Awards will be made to the three best essays submitted in each category, at a ceremony during the NEST AT 25 Conference on the 19th of July, 2012.

NEST is one of Nigeria’s foremost environmental Non-Governmental Organizations. It was founded by a group of environmentalists within and outside Nigeria in 1987. NEST has since made significant contributions through research, pilot projects, public policy, raising public awareness and education on environmental and sustainable development issues.

NEST is marking her 25th anniversary, among other ways, by holding this competition, with the hope of stimulating interest in the youth, who own the future, on the varied dimensions of the environment problematique. The physical dimensions of environmental degradation, like soil and gulley erosion, desertification and encroaching sand dunes, silting up and drying up of water bodies, growing scarcity of forest resources and loss of biodiversity, mounting garbage in the cities and air pollution leading to climate change, are readily observable.

But how these environmental failures affect our daily lives, beyond the material shortages and discomfort they create is infrequently considered. Nigeria is at present experiencing an abnormally high level of human insecurity in various forms. Is there a link with our degrading environment? To what extent do conflicts arising from contests for environmental resources – space, farm or grazing land, water and fisheries or just forest resources – underlie the rising level of insecurity in the country?

It is hoped that essayists in this competition will explore these dimensions of the impact of the

environment, to enhance our appreciation of the consequences of inadequate attention to the environment.

For inquiries: info@nestinteractive.org

For submissions: essays must be accompanied by the curriculum vitae of the authors and submitted electronically to Chris Ichite, Programme Officer, at info@nestinteractive.org and chrisichite@yahoo.com