MADI PROF CALESTOUS JUMA ESSAY COMPETITION

Announcement of the Winners

Minerals Africa Development Institution (MADI) in partnership with the Calestous Juma Legacy Foundation (CJLF) is proud to announce the winners of the recent inaugural Prof. Calestous Juma Essay Competition which concluded early this year. The top 20 essays will be featured on our new blog site 'Fostering Innovative African Minds'.

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We are proud to announce the following outstanding essays as the winners respectively:


First Place Winner: Adaji Ufedo-Ojo Eleojo

Ufedo-Ojo Adaji is a student radiographer with aspirations to change the world through her writing. Adaji is a talented writer who varies her genres to include scripts, articles, fiction and poetry. She has also won the top 20 Ekonke short story competition, the EMEND WED essay competition and the 2021 Humans of Transcorp poetry competition. Adaji is adamant that we have the resources needed to conquer the globe as Africans and she will do her bit to show the world what Africa is capable of.


2nd Place: Nwankwo Gideon

Nwankwo Gideon Ikemdinachi is a writer, inspirational speaker and a public health enthusiast. He graduated from the University of Nigeria in 2019 with a B.Sc. (Hons) in Zoology and Environmental Biology.Gideon also writes poems, short stories and conference reports. He was a rapporteur during the 26th Nigerian Economic Summit event. He has coached many successful young writers and public speakers. He is the founder and director of the Excellent Writers Academy (EWA), an online coaching platform geared towards raising young dynamic writers who will champion social transformation through the power of the pen.


3rd Place: Joshua John Inioluwa

Joshua John Inioluwa is a 4th year medical student at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria. He is a multiple award-winning essayist, member of the 2022 UN Millennium Fellowship Class, volunteer and student leader. As a writer, he enjoys exploring the various socio-economic issues affecting Africa in general and Nigeria in particular, and more importantly researching and exploring practical ways to solve these problems. He looks forward to a career in trauma care and emergency medicine while also contributing through research and advocacy to improving health outcomes in Nigeria.


In addition to the top 3 winners, we would like to name two honourable mentions for their excellent submissions.

Honourable mention – Faith Oluwatosin

Honourable mention – Emmanuel Igbokwe


We received over 50 essays from all over Africa and had so many exceptional ideas brought on by young Africans. Dr. Frank Mugyenyi, the Executive Chairman of MADI remarked that the main goal behind the essay competition was to bring together great young African minds to deliberate on solutions to persisting problems that plague Africa especially in regards to its natural resource sector, which was successfully achieved. 


     “We are proud to have partnered with MADI for the inaugural essay competition named for Prof Calestous Juma, who was a champion for innovative thinking among the youth. Congratulations and thanks to all of the participants and winners!” Angela Christiana, Executive Director, Calestous Juma Legacy Foundation


We would like to extend our appreciation to our panel of judges for their dedicated work towards finding the prize winning essays. This esteemed panel was constituted by:

  • Kate Bauer 

  • Robin Bose

  • Victoria Chengo

  • John Ludden

  • Frank Mugyenyi


Please note:

The top 3 winners will be contacted personally via email or via any appropriate means of communication. MADI is currently working on the  AWARD Ceremony that will be revealed once all the arrangements have been concluded. 

We are also happy to notify you that the top 20 essays shall also be featured in many of MADI and CJLF’s future publications.

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Be sure to follow along as we share the top 20 essays on our blog. https://fosteringinnovativeafricanminds.blogspot.com/


Thank You all once again!