A chieftain of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) in the South-west, Ambassador Olufemi Ajadi Oguntoyinbo, on Friday tasked the federal government to encourage education like the sports sector.
Oguntoyinbo, in a statement, emphasised that there was the need for the federal government to always provide adequate rewards for academic brilliance among Nigerians” as it is doing in the sports sector.”
He emphasised that the federal government’s gesture of rewarding athletes and footballers with huge amounts of money and other incentives “while it gives paltry sums to students who excel in academic competitions is unacceptable.”
“What is good for sports athletes is also good for those who excel in academic activities,” he said, frowning upon the federal government’s cash gift of N200, 000 reward to Nafisah Abdullahi, winner of the TeenEagle Global Finals competition.
He noted that the federal government through its rewards system was not encouraging education and brilliance by awarding ridiculous amounts for such a great feat.
“I think the government should extend its rewards system in other sectors to education, so that our youth will aspire for brilliance in education. It is discouraging, especially now that some youth are already declaring education as a scam due to the way those who win academic laurels are poorly rewarded.”