When the Super Falcons won the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) and D’Tigress lifted their fifth AfroBasket title, the nation celebrated. They were rewarded with national honours, $100,000 each, and brand-new homes. Nigerians applauded the President for recognising excellence.
But when three young girls from Yobe State, Nafisa Abdullahi Aminu, Rukayya Muhammad Fema and Hadiza Kashim Kalli went to London and defeated 69 other countries in an international English competition, what did they get? A mere congratulatory message at first, and after public outrage, a cheque of ₦200,000.
Let’s call it what it is: mockery. From the federal government, that amount is not a reward, it is an insult. It tells every Nigerian child watching that intellect is cheap, that academic achievement does not deserve the same dignity as sports.
And now, Madam First Lady, Nigerians must ask you directly: why are you silent?
You, Senator Oluremi Tinubu Ma, have built your reputation as a champion of education. You have donated ₦1 billion to Obafemi Awolowo University. You raised an endowment fund for girl-child education to ₦200 million. You set up ₦50 million scholarships for female graduates at YabaTech and FUTO. You supported art education with ₦100 million. These are noble acts, and nobody denies them.
But how do you explain ignoring Nafisa, Rukayya and Hadiza? How do you justify spending billions of naira on institutions in the South while turning your back on three Northern girls who waved our flag in victory before the world?
Is their crime that they come from Yobe State, a region scarred by conflict and labelled “educationally disadvantaged”? Or is it that they don’t belong to the “right” universities and social circles?
Madam First Lady, you cannot claim to care about girl-child education and at the same time treat these girls like afterthoughts. Your silence is louder than words and it is a betrayal to millions of parents who still believe education is the only hope for their daughters.
Madam First Lady, you cannot claim to care about girl-child education and at the same time treat these girls like afterthoughts. Your silence is louder than words and it is a betrayal to millions of parents who still believe education is the only hope for their daughters.
Mr. President, ₦200,000 is not only shameful, it is damaging. Madam First Lady, your inaction speaks volumes. Together, you are sending a dangerous message: that brains don’t matter in Nigeria, only fame does.
The Yobe girls have done their part. They proved that Northern daughters, too, can shine on the global stage. Now the question is: will their own country honour them or continue to humiliate them?
These girls deserve more than crumbs. They deserve national honours, scholarships, and recognition befitting champions. Anything less is not only unjust it is unacceptable.
* mairommuhammad@gmail.com
