By Saheed Ibrahim & Roland Bayode

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The Dean of Students Affairs, Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba Akoko, AAUA, Dr. Olusegun Owolewa could not hold his disappointment at the few students who graced an academic event tagged, ‘Breaking Glass Ceilings in the 21st century for the African Girl Child’ in the university.
The two-day colloquium which was held on June 9 and 10, 2021, was organized by the AAUA students Union Government Vice President, Comrade Valentina Akinlalu.
On the first day, an inter-faculty debate was organized with only few students in attendance.
This was contrary to several social events in the university which always witnessed mammoth crowd, who struggled to grab seats. The reason might not be unconnected to the fact that excellent academic activities are often rewarded with little or no prizes while social engagements are avenues to make millions of naira. It has become a tradition among Nigerian universities to reward excellent students with meager prizes or empty handshakes.
For instance, a few weeks ago, the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, UNN, had its 49th convocation and as reported by Sahara Reporters, the Best Graduating Students in several categories were awarded N1000 and N1500.
Sahara Reporters also shared the prizes and award night programme booklets of the best graduating students, which confirmed that the university awarded beggarly prizes to her best students.
In 2018, Bamisaye Tosin got N100 for being the Best Graduating Student (BGS) at the Ekiti State University’s (EKSU) Department of Civil Engineering.
In the letter given to him and signed by the Registrar, he was told to, “Kindly liaise with the Bursary Department for your cash award. On behalf of the Vice-Chancellor, accept my congratulations”.
A year earlier, Best Somadina emerged as the best Mass Communication Graduating Student from Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University (COOU), formerly known as Anambra State University. Everyone expected Best to get the best gifts but he got a lousy tuber of yam, a fowl, and a certificate.
Obi Ijeoma, 2018 graduate of Estate Management from Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Anambra State, and Adaobi Abisi, the school’s overall best student in the same year got “Words of Encouragement” for emerging as the best student.
There are countless other cases of students receiving beggarly amounts or nothing for striving to become the best among thousands of their mates. Could this be the reason most students care ‘less’ about attaining the best degree in tertiary institutions? Also, people venturing into social activities are now millionaires even in Nigeria.
For instance, MultiChoice Nigeria, organizer of the Big Brother Nigeria reality TV show, announced openly that the season five winner would walk away with N85 million grand prize with a breakdown that includes: N30 million cash prize; a two-bedroom apartment courtesy of Revolution Plus; a top-of-the-range SUV from Nigerian automaker, Innoson Motors; a trip to Dublin courtesy of Guinness; home appliances courtesy of Scanfrost. Its prizes are a trip to Dubai packaged by Travelbeta; a year’s supply of Indomie noodles, Munch it, and Colgate toothpaste; a year’s supply of Pepsi, a branded chiller, trip to watch the UEFA Champions League final, and a brand new Oppo mobile smartphone.
In the 2019 edition of the show, the winner, Mercy Eke won N30 million cash prize , as well as other gifts. A 26-year-old fast-rising rapper, Olamilekan ‘Laycon’ Agbeleshe also won the 2020 Big Brother Naija Lockdown edition.
The difference is very clear. Little wonder students reconfigure their mentality towards the social trends, which to them seems to be the surest and fastest way to excel in life.
What will be the possible ways to end students’ indifference towards academic events?
In an interview with The Hope, the AAUA Dean of Students Affairs, Dr. Owolewa, disclosed that it was a universal problem that occurred in every institution, stating that students prefer pleasure more than knowledge.
“It is not only in AAUA . It is also everywhere. Even in UNILAG, students like entertainment. They love pleasure and prefer it to knowledge.”
The Dean also said there was no solution to end the low turnout of students for educative programmes.
He however suggested that if there would be any solution, it would be to combine education with entertainment programmes.
Also commenting, the Global President, National Association of Ondo State Students(NAOSS), Ayoade Kikiowo said societal reflections and contributions contribute a lot to the average thinking of Nigerian youths.
“We walk on the street from morning till night, nothing is communicating academics from all the reflections around us. The music we hear, films we watch, and everything we see are things that only communicate social activities and societal trends. “This is the situation in which we find ourselves in this country and it will be very hard now for you to find students who are very determined or who are more concerned and committed to education.
“Most of our institutions and government are not putting much value towards academic excellence. They are not celebrating people who are doing remarkably well in this sector.
“You will see institutions giving N5000, N1000 to students for having a first-class degree after five years. Meanwhile in a beauty pageant contest alone, you see people going home with one million naira prize, car, and with series of endorsements. Even in dancing competitions, winners go home with more than N500,000.
He lamented that unlike before, Nigeria has left the age where having a first-class is automatic employment. The sources of this problem as he stated are societal trends and moral decadence which are affecting the current generation daily. According to him, that is the major reason people place priorities on social activities than academics.
“People are not seeing the value. You will see graduates on the streets riding bikes and taxis. You will also see a young boy who is into Yahoo or cybercrime riding luxury cars.”
He also argued that the mindsets of young people have gradually been changed to believe there is no reward for their resilience towards education and this consequently makes them withdraw and would rather tempt them to venture into other means that pay better. “Even lecturers are not being paid well,” he added.
Suggesting the possible way out, Ayoade said that government should prioritize education by investing more in it and create more employment opportunities that will encourage the graduates.
“We have to start placing value on education. We have to start celebrating people who are doing well in this field. We have to start showing people that knowledge is wealth.
“Government cannot employ everyone, but we want them to launch an aid policies that can make entrepreneurs strive. They should make room for foreign investors to come and invest and set up companies in our states. This I believe will provide more jobs, reduce the unemployment rate and reinforce the value of education once again.” He said.
In the same vein, the Student Union Vice President, AAUA, Akinlalu Valentina said it was no longer a new thing that in this part of the world, academic events are poorly compensated compared to social events like Big Brother Naija and others.
“The first thing we should correct is the mindset and the orientation with which students and other people involved in approach this issue.
“They should know that organisers of social events like that of Big-Brother Naija do their thing to get income and the fact is that the money they give to their winners most times come from the logistics of the programme of their events such as people voting for their preferred celebrities or preferred housemate, and their income varies ranging from partnership with companies like Coca-Cola, Pepsi. The students should not measure the level of their achievements by the level of gifts they get, because it is more than that.”
Another way to correct this is if top brands and companies are showing their interest in academic events and activities by encouraging the best graduating students in their pursuits and giving them good recognition .
“We are in a world where we have misplaced priority. Someone who can twerk very well on the social media is celebrated and has more followers on Twitter, while the best graduating student of an institution or best in Nigeria have just a few followers. This consequently causes low self-esteem and makes people feel it’s not worth it,” she said.