Dressed in a tonic red gown with a
little touch of cream, she looked very beautiful and radiant, to the
admiration of many in the audience, without sparing those at the
high-table. She took every step consciously with so much elegance and
glamour as she emerged from the crowd to mount the stage and received
her prizes.
Having emerged the winner of the beauty
pageantry organised by her community to celebrate the most beautiful
girl in the town, Nnaemeka Gloria, was the cynosure of all eyes at the
event as everything stood still for her. As the winner of the contest,
the title, “Miss Nwauku” did not just come as a label; it came with
mind-blowing and mouth-watering gifts, such that could make any
beneficiary forget her past problems.
Apart from cash gifts, she also received
gift items and numerous promises, but top of it all was a car gift; a
brand new sport utility vehicle. The presentation of the car key to her
by a representative of the sponsors drew overwhelming cheers and
applause from the audience.
Her vote of thanks was justifiably
flooded with enticing smiles. Her benefactors would likely forgive her
for not being able to say much. It was certainly a moment she would
always remember. Several months after the epoch-making event, Gloria has
been living in near-affluence, painting the town in shades of colour
with her exotic car. For someone who is from a ‘humble’ background, the
event was like her breakthrough.
But, Gloria’s feat didn’t just come by
luck; it came with a great sacrifice. Simply put, she had to sacrifice
her admission for the competition. She told Saturday Punch that
she had been seeking admission for three years and that 2014 appeared
more promising for her since she was able to pass the Unified Tertiary
Matriculation Examination scoring 207/400) for the first time.
She
was already preparing for the post-UTME when she came across the
opportunity to be a part of the beauty contest. She said, “Initially, I
was reluctant because of the admission that I had in view, but a friend
of mine, who had graduated two years earlier but with no job told me to
give it a try. My friend reminded me that there is no latecomer when it
comes to education and that there are no enough jobs out there. So,
there was no need for me to jeopardise profitable opportunities around
me in the name of admission.
“And truly, there are many unemployed
people out there roaming the streets. So I felt if I had something that
could benefit me, why shouldn’t I pursue it. I know I can always write
UTME again. Then, I looked at the prizes to be won and they were just
very fantastic. I knew I had a chance because I know I’m beautiful and
smart with a good stature, so I bought the form, and thank God I won. It
wasn’t excessively tasking.
“I had to borrow some money to add to
the one I reserved for my post-UTME so as to buy the form, and my
parents gave me their blessings. I knew if I won, I would be richer, and
have some extra money in school when I get admission. People castigated
me for that decision but they are the same people celebrating me now.
It’s amazing.”
Now that Gloria, 24, is a celebrated
beauty queen, with a flashy car and some money in her bank account, she
is now, gradually though, renewing her quest for higher education, but
not with her eyes closed to other such opportunities around her.
A winner of Airtel Nigeria’s Got Talent show
“My dear, there is time for everything.
The time for admission will come. After all, even if I emerge as the
best student in school, I wouldn’t have got this much recognition and
gifts, not to even talk of a car. Ask the best students what they get
for their hard work, apart from applause and small gifts,” she added.
Entertainment as a robust alternative
True to Gloria’s last statement, the
reward for entertainment shows far outweighs the one for academic
excellence, or say education, which has been said to be the bedrock of a
nation’s development.
It is even noteworthy that Gloria’s
winnings are nothing compared to what winners of the various television
reality shows and fashion contests take home as their rewards, which
further underscores how very rewarding reality shows, beauty pageants
and other social programmes have been, in contrast to the reward for
academic excellence.
For example, the winner of Miss
University of Lagos (UNILAG) beauty pageant in 2014, Miss Damilare
Babajide, went home with a brand new car and other gift items, but the
winner of the school’s debate competitionin the same year got a computer
and N100,000 as reward. In fact, the winner of the debate in the
previous year got a paltry N50,000 and a computer.
Presentation of award to a first class graduate
That is a tip of the iceberg. The winner
of the last edition of Big Brother Africa, a show that has largely been
criticised by many for promoting immorality, got $300,000 (about N60m).
Also, since the Nigerian Breweries
Plc-sponsored Gulder Ultimate Search, which is a test of the survival
instinct of the contestants in the jungle, started in 2004, the prize
that goes to the winner has risen from N3m to a whopping N10m plus a new
Ford Explorer vehicle, which was won by Chinedu Ubachukwu in 2014.
And its dance reality TV show, tagged
Maltina Dance All, in its 2014 edition, gave the winner N10m cash prize,
the first runner-up got N3m and the second runner-up N1m.
In the same vein, when MTN’s Project
Fame, a music talent competition show, began in 2008, the winner, Iyanya
Mbuk, went home with N2.5m, a brand new sport utility vehicle and a
one-year recording contract. While the first runner-up got N1.5m cash
gift and a Toyota Corolla, second runner-up got N1m cash prize and a
Toyota Yaris, and the third runner-up got N1m cash prize.
But as of last year, which was its
seventh edition, the winner, Geoffrey Oji, went home with a cheque of
N5m, a new car and a recording contract. The first runner-up won N2m and
a car, the second runner-up also won N2m and a car while the third
runner-up got N2m.
For the Glo-sponsored singing reality TV
show, tagged Glo X-Factor, the winner of its 2013 edition, Obianuju
Udeh, popularly known as Dj Switch, won a whopping $150,000 (N24m), a
brand new SUV and a recording contract with Sony Music. While the first
runner-up, Eshun, got N1m cash prize for her efforts, Vicky, the second
runner-up, also got N1m.
Presentation of award to the winner of MTN Project Fame Season 6
And the Etisalat-sponsored Nigerian Idol
saw the winner of its 2015 edition, Kunle Ogunrombi, popularly known as
K-Peace, go home with N7.5m cash prize, a brand new SUV and a
mouth-watering recording deal with Universal Music Company. As if that
is not enough, the first runner-up got N1.5m and a new Hyundai car while
the second runner-up got N1m cash prize.
Similarly, Airtel’s Nigeria’s Got Talent
show has also been making millionaires out of entertainers. For the
2014 edition, the duo of Robots for Christ won a whopping N10m for their
amazing dance moves.
Education and paltry rewards
It’s amazing that as lavish and
mouth-watering as these prizes are, what ‘winners’ in academics, or say
education, get is usually a paltry sum, which conveniently qualifies as
crumbs, when compared.
While winners in some entertainment
shows go home with gifts worth millions of naira, most best graduating
students of Nigerian universities only go home with plaques, handshakes,
pat on the back, numerous accolades and sometimes paltry sum as cash
gifts.
In fact, when Kazeem Abiodun emerged as
the overall best graduating student in the 2012/2013 academic session
and being the pioneer first class graduate from the Faculty of Law of
the University of Ilorin, Kwara State, his joy knew no bounds. It was a
day he would never forget. But beyond the personal fulfilment that
Abiodun had, the only gift he got was a plaque and N30,000 cash prize.
Nwachukwu receiving handshake from Bishop David Oyedepo
Similarly, Umossoh Otobong, 23, who
emerged as the overall best student of BOWEN University in the 2012/2013
academic session with a 4.97 CGPA, only got N130,000 as gift, coupled
with a job offer from the institution.
As a reward for being the best
graduating student from the Department of Medicine and Surgery, Ladoke
Akintola University of Science and Technology, Ogbomoso, Oyo State, in
the 2013/2014 academic session, Ojo Abimbola only got N50,000 cash gift,
plaque and textbooks.
Also, for Okoronkwo Onyeka, who was the
best graduating student of the University of Calabar, Cross River State,
in the 2012/2013 academic session, all she got as reward was N250,000
cash prize from the Tony Elumelu Foundation and a plaque.
However, when Oti Ebubechukwu emerged
the best student in Covenant University, Ota, Ogun State, in the
2014/2015 academic session, with a stunning 4.96 CGPA, the bulk of what
he got was endless handshakes, admiration, in addition to few gifts and a
little above N100,000 cash gift. He noted that most of the gifts were
not even because he was the overall best, save for an iPad from a
reputable company, but for other categories of awards that he won. “No
regret at all. I’m happy, most importantly that I attained my goal of
being the best student, so the gifts were just a bonus,” he said.
Meanwhile, Adesola Akomolafe seemed
lucky, as she won a Kia Picanto as the best graduating student of Afe
Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State, in the 2012/2013 academic
session, having finished with a 4.91 CGPA.
Also, Kehinde Babaagba, who was the best
graduating student of Redeemers University, Mowe, Ogun State in the
2012/2013 academic session got few gifts on the convocation and a
scholarship, which she is currently enjoying.
Findings by Saturday PUNCH,
however, showed that the reward system for academic excellence cannot
compare with what obtains in the entertainment industry, which,
according to some observers, could influence the focus of the younger
ones, coupled with the rate of unemployment in the country.
The dearth of ‘academic reality shows’
With the growing rate of reality shows,
there seems to be a disproportion in the reality shows that reward
academic excellence and education in general. Even though the
entertainment shows have their huge impacts on the society, the
disparity in their reward systems has been the source of concern for
many observers.
Worthy
of note is that GUS is in its 12th season, Project Fame is in its
eighth edition, Nigerian Idol has just concluded its season five, among
others, but one popular intellectual show that educated many, The
Debaters, went moribund, after its second edition in 2010. The winner of
the second edition, Chinedu Chidi, went home with N3.5m, Toyota RAV4
and a laptop computer.
For being the first runner-up, Ibipo got
N1m cash prize and a laptop while Olumide went home with N500,000 and a
laptop. Also, the eleven other runners-up got laptop computers each,
courtesy of Guaranty Trust Bank.
The Debaters was one show that rewarded intelligence and brought pride and prestige to intellectual proficiency.
Notably, Promasidor, Sponsors of Cowbell
Mathematics competition, sponsored by Promasidor, has continued to
reward the proficiency of secondary school students who can prove
themselves worthy of the prizes through its annual competition. In fact,
mathematics teachers of winning candidates both at the state and
national levels are also rewarded with cash prizes and loads of Cowbell
products.
Also, in its bid to reward academic
excellence among its members, the Mountain of Fire and Miracles
Ministries recently gave N500,000 each to church members, numbering 180,
who made first class in the 2014 academic session. In fact, when the
initiative started few years ago, it was learnt that the beneficiaries
got cars, but it was later converted to cash prize due to the increasing
number of beneficiaries and to be able to accommodate all.
A member of the church who is a 200-level student in the Obafemi Awolowo University told Saturday PUNCH
that he was already working hard to have a first class, not only to
make his parents happy but also benefit from the cash prize.
Even though, most of the
telecommunications network providers who sponsor most of the reality
shows also have other programmes for rewarding intelligence, such as
MTN’s Who wants to be a millionaire, Airtel’s Touching Lives and Glo’s
other programmes, some people have said that the investment in such
shows should be able to compete with those that have to do with
entertainment because education is key to nation building.
Some people have also argued that the
reward for excellence might not necessarily be financial, more so as
some of them are usually retained as graduate assistants by their
prospective schools. Some other persons have argued that the way the
society rewards goes a long way to influence the prominence and
attention people give to such things. It has also been found that the
lopsided reward systems have driven the attention of children away from
such shows.
A journey to the bottom
While Nigeria ranks as the 21st in
literacy rate among African countries, it’s rated to be the
entertainment hub of the continent. It has also been observed that
today’s children effortlessly recount musical lyrics than poetry which
is now being treated as a thing of the past.
The downward drift was more evident when
our correspondent visited a public secondary school in the Agege area
of Lagos recently. It was break time, and expectedly, the entire
atmosphere was noisy, as the students were playing on the field. Most of
the classes were empty but some girls stayed behind in one of the
classes.
Oblivious of the presence of a stranger
around them, they entertained themselves with a phone that one of them
had smuggled into the school, where Olamide’s hit track, Shakiti Bobo,
was blaring. They sang along, took turns to dance and cat-walked, while
recounting the lyrics accurately as if composing it was a joint effort
between them and the author of the song. When our correspondent engaged
them in a light discussion, and they were asked what they would like to
become in the future, most of them looked forward to being “rich and
popular celebrities” while two of the eight of them looked forward to
being an engineer and political scientist respectively.
It was however not very surprising when,
after the break, their teacher came into class and asked them to do a
summary of their last lecture, emphasising that it would be their
continuous assessment. A number of them started looking into space and
made efforts to spy or cheat, which partly underscores how much singing
musical lyrics has overtaken the place of memorising lecture notes or
poems.
According to a psychologist, Prof. Oni
Fagboungbe, such tilted reward system could make people show more
interest in entertainment more than academics, adding that people tend
to be more interested in instant reward, which entertainment offers,
than in academics, which could be delayed.
He said, “In entertainment, the reward
is momentary, but in education, it has long-term running effect. So, the
disparity bothers on individual’s perception. Entertainment has its own
advantages too, like when you talk about contribution to national
income and engaging the youths.
“Thus, you find young people drifting
away from academics into entertainment and one thing that is sure is
that a country does not develop through its power of entertainment, a
country develops through qualitative education, research, investment and
discovery. And any country that neglects education will for forever
remain an appendage of those countries that promote education. That is
what is promoting China and those Asian countries. They invest massively
in education and they are seeing the results.”
Responding to the enquiry on why
telecommunication companies seem to spend more money on promoting
entertainment shows than educational shows, the Spokesperson for
Etisalat Nigeria, Mrs. Chineze Amanfo, said the company was accustomed
to supporting programmes that could make an impact in different
communities.
“It is our way of sharing the passions
of our customers and at the core of our sponsorship objective is
building enduring relationships that add value, through partnerships,
providing access and engagement opportunities for our customers,” she
added.
She noted that the company’s sponsorship
cuts across education, sports and entertainment, while highlighting the
programmes to include “Etisalat Prize for innovation, prize for
literature, Mind the Gap Mentoring Scheme, Etisalat Merit Awards, among
others.
Meanwhile, all exhaustive efforts to get
the comment of the spokespersons for other telecom companies and some
other organisations were not successful as they neither picked their
calls nor replied the messages and emails sent to them.
Also commenting on the tilted reward
system, a former Executive Secretary of the National Universities
Commission, Prof. Peter Okebukola, said the effect of such tilted reward
system would be negative, saying success in educational enterprises
could easily be linked to socio-economic growth and development,
political stability, health and food security. “The simple meaning of
this is that if a country jokes with education, it is joking with its
future,” he said.
Okebukola, who is a professor of science education, identified four effects of this discriminatory reward system on education.
He said, “It will nudge students who
otherwise will want to face and excel in their academic work away from
their studies in hot pursuit of non-academic activities which are
glamorous and will fetch them huge rewards, more so in our society where
material gains are celebrated.
“Another effect is the reduction in the
perception of the relevance of education by the citizenry. Handshakes
and congratulatory messages for the successful student in class or in
academic competitions in contrast with gifts of flashy cars for winners
of non-educational events will be likened to a self-fulfilling prophecy
for those with phobia for formal (western-type) education.
“Also, it dampens the enthusiasm of
teachers. If their students who excel in their studies and education
competitions go away with mere handshakes in contrast with the bigger
external rewards for those who are not so serious in class but who win
non-academic competitions, such teachers will be less than keen to put
in their best.
“Then, another effect is that it will
significantly depress intrinsic motivation of all members of the school
community to do their utmost to elevate quality of education in the face
of the harsh environment that characterises our schools.”
Post a Comment