The decline and decay in the education system in Nigeria is often as a result of failure of authorities to encourage students when they deserve accolades.
It becomes quite discouraging for students who are holed up in the library or laboratory studying tirelessly only to discover that some colleagues who probably have little or no brain tend to get higher rewards, simply for looking good or having some fantastic figures.
Recently, a 4th year Law student at the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Damilare Babajide, smiled home in her brand new car and some unspecified bonuses for winning the 2014 Miss UNILAG pageantry.
Meanwhile, on September 10, 2014, an 18-year-old 2nd year student of Political Science major at UNILAG, Zainab Olaitan emerged the winner of the University’s rigorous academic debate competition and the Vice Chancellor, Rahman Bello, rewarded her with N100,000 and a Laptop computer.
However, this didn’t go down well with some lecturers who sparked up series of arguments on why other bonuses will be given to the UNILAG Queen while the winner of a debate competition was given just a laptop and N100,000.
In the course of the argument, one of the lecturers, who pleaded anonymity, expressed his agitation on the car and other gifts given to the university’s beauty queen adding that it was far beyond the reward given to a winner of a debate competition which was obviously more tasking.
In addition, the lecturer brought to fore that last year’s winner of the debate competition, Miss Mary Adegunloye, received a laptop and N50,000.
According to him, “I understand that the university management was planning to give the same paltry sum of N50,000 cash prize this year to the winner of the debate, but decided to double the cash prize because of criticisms from some lecturers and student leaders.”
Furthermore, he said that the University’s management pressured that the runner-ups of this year’s debate competition be given consolation prizes of N50,000 each.
SaharaReporters reports that the amount of cash given to her wasn’t ascertained but that the beauty queen disclosed in a television interview that the sum was “encouraging.”
In reaction to the big variation in the awards given to the beauty queen and the debate champion, a few students said that the relativelysmall reward for intellectual achievement was likely to affect the educational zeal of students not just in UNILAG, but other Nigerian institution.
