By Uko Unyime
Chizoba Ejiofor, the best graduating student from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), with an exceptional CGPA of 4.98, has gone from being overlooked to celebrated on the global stage.
After the university failed to honour its promised ₦50,000 ($31) cash award for his academic excellence, Chizoba has now secured a prestigious, fully funded Commonwealth Scholarship valued at over £33,000.
His story has reignited national conversations about the broken reward system in Nigerian universities and what it truly means to value brilliance.
This is not an isolated incident. Nigerian universities have a long history of underwhelming reward systems for their top scholars.
In 2019, the best graduating student from Lagos State University (LASU), with a CGPA of 4.88, was awarded ₦50,000 and a handshake, sparking criticism on social media.
Shortly after, private organizations and diaspora alumni donated more than ₦2 million in support.
Similarly, in 2021, Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) awarded its best student just ₦20,000, prompting ridicule. A crowdfunding campaign organized by student union leaders raised ₦800,000 for him within days.
Many top performing graduates from Nigerian universities have gone on to bag global scholarships, awards, and sponsorships. Expectedly, many don’t return to Nigeria once they climb their peak—a loss for the country.
To fix this broken reward system, Nigeria must adopt sustainable models built on transparency, equity, and collaboration. Public universities can collaborate with alumni, banks, NGOs, and corporate partners to create endowment funds specifically for rewarding academic excellence.
Partnering with organizations like MTN Foundation, Shell, NNPC, and Flutterwave could result in corporate-sponsored awards for academic excellence, just as they sponsor music and tech innovation awards.
Many of these companies already run scholarship programmes (the MTN Scholarship, for example), but few are tied to university award ceremonies
State governments can take a cue from Anambra State’s Academic Excellence Awards, which offer cash grants, laptops, and internships to top students from state-owned institutions.
Creating interstate competition around rewarding academic excellence could uplift the education sector’s reputation overall.
Nigerian universities should revise internal policies on prize allocation. Many still operate outdated frameworks from the 1970s that budget token amounts (₦5,000–₦50,000) for prizes.
Policies should be updated to include in-kind rewards (laptops, travel grants, research funds) and build in career development options (teaching assistant roles, start-up funding, etc.).
The Federal Ministry of Education could institute an annual President’s Academic Excellence Award, giving ₦1 million or more to the top student in every public university, along with a funded study-abroad opportunity.
This would elevate the value of excellence at a national level, akin to what countries like Singapore and Canada have implemented.
There should be provision of automatic employment opportunities for best-performing students, especially within their academic departments or fields of study.
For example, a first-class graduate in economics could be employed as a graduate assistant, helping with tutorials, research work, and academic support. This is already common in many international systems where high performers are retained to mentor younger students while continuing their academic careers.
Universities must establish Academic Trust Funds, long-term financial pools created from alumni donations, private sector support, and public grants to fund academic rewards sustainably.
Academic excellence should not be rewarded from last-minute handouts or leftover faculty funds. Instead, universities must integrate award allocations into their annual budget planning.
Each year, a specific portion of the university’s internal revenue—from commercial services, consultancy, and grants—should be allocated to cash prizes for best graduating students, grants for best final-year projects or book allowances or laptops for top 5 performers.
Beyond cash prizes, Nigerian universities can offer structured postgraduate scholarship grants to the best graduating students, especially those interested in pursuing academic careers or research-based fields.
Institutions can model this after the Shell University Scholarship Scheme or DAAD-funded master’s grants. For instance, the University of Ibadan Postgraduate School sometimes offers competitive grants to the best undergraduate scholars to continue at the PG level.
Finally, reward systems must include public recognition. When students are honored publicly, it elevates the cultural value of academic excellence and inspires others. This can include national media coverage of the top 1% of graduates across universities and presidential or state-level awards.
The story of the UNN graduate who moved from a ₦50,000 award to a life-changing scholarship abroad is both inspirational and sobering. It shows what is possible when excellence is recognized.
To build a country where education is respected and innovation thrives, Nigeria must go beyond ceremonial praise and offer real, structured, and sustainable rewards to its brightest minds. Only then can the current brain drain be reversed and the standard of learning raised.
Chizoba Ejiofor, a top graduate from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, who was denied a promised cash award, has gained significant attention after securing a fully funded Commonwealth Scholarship.
This incident highlights the flawed reward system for academic excellence in Nigerian universities, where top students often receive inadequate recognition.
Historical instances include minimal cash awards to outstanding graduates from Lagos State University and Ahmadu Bello University, prompting criticism and subsequent support from private organizations.
To address this issue, Nigerian universities need sustainable reward systems involving collaboration with alumni, NGOs, and corporations to create endowment funds.
Partnering with companies like MTN and Shell could lead to corporate-sponsored academic awards.
Nigerian universities must revise outdated prize allocation policies, offering rewards like laptops or study-abroad opportunities, while the Federal Ministry of Education could institute a President’s Academic Excellence Award to nationally honor top students.
Long-term strategies include institutionalizing Academic Trust Funds, allocating budget portions for academic rewards, and offering postgraduate scholarships for top graduates.
Public recognition through media coverage and national awards would elevate the cultural value of academic excellence.
By implementing structured and sustainable reward mechanisms, Nigeria can enhance education respect, curb brain drain, and inspire innovation among its brightest minds.
