Introduction
The Benue Undergraduate Contest for Intellectual Creativity and Ingenuity is the brain child of the Creative Minds Group, born out of the urgent need to promote the culture of creativity, research breakthrough and innovation among undergraduates of Benue origin as obtained in other parts of the world. This has become imperative given the inadequate emphasis placed on this in our current educational system, and the resultant inability of most graduates to earn a living on the proceeds of their undergraduate training. The Creative Minds Group believes that for this trend to be reversed, undergraduates must be tasked to engage their minds to produce innovations that not only save them from poverty, but also provide means by which their unemployed contemporaries may earn a decent living. The group believes that this is a fundamental approach to tackling unemployment, youth restiveness and social underdevelopment.
Objectives
1. To promote creativity, innovation and research breakthrough.
2. To encourage problem-solving approach to learning.
3. To identify and reward ingenuity among undergraduate students.
Guidelines
1. Participants must be duly registered undergraduates of Benue State origin.
2. Each participant is to write an original problem-solving essay on any area of their interest. The essay must identify and proffer applicable solutions to a problem in the country.
3. Only one entry is allowed per contestant.
4. Essays should be typed double-spaced, Times New Roman size 12, and should have references duly appearing at the end.
5. Essays shall be judged for creativity, problem-solving and originality, as well as richness of expression and practicality.
6. Plagiarism is forbidden and all plagiarized entries will be disqualified.
7. Entrants are free to write on any topic of their choice even if it is not in their faculty of training.
8. Entries are to be sent as PDF attachments to creativeminds5878@gmail.com alongside entrant’s admission letter and school ID card, from April 20, 2018 to midnight of June 20, 2018.
9. The winner and the first runner-up will be awarded grants for books and given support for the implementation of their innovation.