UNILAG Contest: Most Beautiful Wins Car, Debate Winner Wins Laptop
A recently concluded contest in UNILAG made mockery of brilliance and intelligence; and rather showered praises and rewards on beauty. Beauty is a good thing, no doubt. A 400 level Law Student at the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Akoka, Ms. Damilare Babajide, was rewarded with a brand new car and loads of other attractive incentives as the winner of the 2014 Miss UNILAG pageant.
This made a mockery of the reward given to the university’s debate competition winner (N100,000 and a laptop). And we wonder why performances in WAEC, NECO and JAMB examinations are dropping every year. We have attached much more importance to entertainment and related stuffs than education.
According to SaharaReporters, the car prize was presented officially to the Beauty Queen by the office of the Directorate of Student Affairs (DSA). The 18-year-old fiery debater was handed the package of a laptop and a cash prize of N100,000 by the university Vice Chancellor, Professor Rahman Bello.
Last year, the winner of the university debate, Ms. Mary Adegunloye, was given a cash prize of N50,000 with a laptop computer. Sources familiar with management organizers said that the paltry sum of N50,000 would be repeated this year, but criticisms of some staff and student leaders on the campus prompted an increase of N50,000.
In addition, the management was also persuaded to give runners-up in the debate competition a sum of N50,000 each, although this was not done in the previous year.
Take a look at all music competitions and reality TV shows and prizes associated. Do the same thing for all the Mathematics competition, Debate contests and all. Then compare the prizes with those dished out to reality TV shows winners. As a kid, I would prefer to be an entertainer to being a genius in Mathematics.
What’s your take on this?
