Tension is brewing in the North after three Nigerian students from Yobe State, Nafisa Abdullahi Aminu, Rukayya Muhammad Fema, and Hadiza Kashim Kalli, who achieved global recognition at the 2025 TeenEagle Global Finals in London, received no tangible reward from the Federal Government despite winning top honours in English language skills, debate, and talent competitions against tens of thousands of contestants from nearly 70 countries.
While the Yobe State government under Governor Mai Mala Buni pledged to honour the girls with a grand reception, expectations for federal recognition were unmet. President Bola Tinubu had issued a congratulatory message, praising the students for showcasing “resilience and boundless potential,” but calls for national honours, financial support, and housing went unanswered.
Prominent voices, including former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and former Minister Isa Ali Pantami, urged the Federal Government to award the girls national honours such as the Order of the Niger (OON), scholarships, financial incentives, and housing, especially given the generous recognition recently accorded to the Super Falcons and D’Tigress.
Mustapha Aminu Maigano wrote on social media: “Award her with a national honour. Provide a scholarship or lifetime educational grant, gift her and her family a house and financial reward, use her story to inspire millions of other Nigerian children. Rewarding Nafisa is rewarding education. It is rewarding the future of Nigeria.”
Mairo Muhammad Mudi also voiced concern, comparing the silence over the Yobe girls’ achievement with the celebrations of the Super Falcons’ victory at the 2024 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations and D’Tigress’ fifth consecutive FIBA Women’s AfroBasket title. “Both victories were met with euphoria. The president, in a commendable gesture, rolled out national honours, cash gifts of $100,000 per player, and brand-new homes for the champions and their coaches. But then came another victory, perhaps quieter, but no less historic… a team of three brilliant schoolgirls from Yobe State… stunned the world by winning first place in an international English competition in London,” she said.
Mudi questioned whether the lack of reward was due to the girls’ origin from a region that has endured years of conflict and underdevelopment. “What makes this snub more disheartening is that the President is aware of their victory, his congratulatory message proves that. Yet, no action has followed… Does the President only respond to Southern achievements? Is the North no longer on the national radar?” she asked, criticising northern political appointees for failing to convey the public’s disappointment to the President.
Other northerners expressed their frustration in stronger terms. Buhari Abubakar told journalists: “The President doesn’t take the North seriously, he neglects us and our needs. We will show him at the polls.” A’isha, a Kano resident, said: “President Tinubu is not sensitive to our feelings… he doesn’t care.”
However, some have argued that the national teams represent the entire country and that the comparison may not be fair. Abubakar Ali noted: “We should not use the reward to the female national teams of both football and basketball as our reason to question the Federal Government, because they represented the entire country and not a section of the country.”
The debate comes just weeks after prominent northern politicians, including Senator Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso and former Secretary to the Government of the Federation Babachir Lawal, accused President Tinubu of marginalising the North.
