Three Nigerian students from Yobe State; Nafisa Abdullahi Aminu, Rukayya Muhammad Fema, and Hadiza Kashim Kalli captured global attention when they won top honors at the 2025 TeenEagle Global Finals in London.
They earned accolades in English language skills, debate, and outstanding talent—beating tens of thousands from nearly 70 countries
While the Yobe State government, under Governor Mai Mala Buni, pledged to celebrate their success with a grand reception, the anticipated federal reward failed to materialize.
Failed reward fuel northern frustration
Despite the president offering warm words—commending the students for showcasing “resilience and boundless potential” calls for tangible honors fell on deaf ears.
Prominent figures, including former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar and ex-Minister, Isa Ali Pantami, publicly urged that the students be awarded national honors like OON, financial rewards, and even housing—particularly in light of the sizable recognition given to recent sports champions – the Super Falcons and D’Tigress.
This omission has deepened a sense of marginalization in the North.
For many, it echoes the broader pattern of achievements going unrecognized by federal institutions and now contributing to rising skepticism about equitable governance.
Many have expressed their outrage on social media platforms over the perceived bias and have promised to ‘remember’ it at the polls.
Mustapha Aminu Maigano is among those who took to social media to urge the Federal government to award the girls.
He wrote, “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, another northerner said the region feels ignored, and this is not politics talk.
She wrote, “First, the Super Falcons made history again by clinching the 2024 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) trophy in Morocco. Then, our indomitable D’Tigress, Nigeria’s women’s basketball team, brought home their fifth consecutive FIBA Women’s AfroBasket title, defeating Mali in grand style.
“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. It was a presidential moment worthy of applause. Nigerians across the country celebrated.
“But then, came another victory, perhaps quieter, but no less historic.
“A team of three brilliant schoolgirls from Yobe State, Fatima Adamu, Falmata Bukar, and Aisha Usman rose from the supposedly “educationally disadvantaged” North-East and stunned the world by winning first place in an international English competition in London.”
She however said it was shocking for the President not to make their victory a national pride.
Mairo asked, “Is it because they came from Yobe State, a region that has suffered years of conflict and underdevelopment? Or is it because their win did not trend as much on social media?
“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, leading many in the North to begin asking difficult questions: Does the President only respond to Southern achievements? Is the North no longer on the national radar?”
She blasted northern political appointees for refusing to convey the peoples disappointment to the President.
She opined that, “Unfortunately, his appointees from the north seem more interested in retaining their seats than conveying the true sentiments of their people.
“Fatima, Falmata, and Aisha have already made Nigeria proud. Now, Nigeria must make them proud in return.”
We will remember – Northerners disappointed with PBAT
Some Northerners are disgruntled and angry at this simple action – or inaction of the President in the wake of $100,000 gifts and houses to Nigerian female athletes.
Buhari Abubakar while speaking said, “The President doesn’t take the north seriously, he neglects us and our needs. We will show him at the polls.”
A’isha, another resident in Kano said, “President Tinubu is not sensitive to our feelings, we should go and do and we will do, he doesn’t care.”
These are a few of the many voices that feel the President has attached less or no value to the north – except for their votes during elections.
But some are of the views that the Falcons and the and D’Tigress represent the entire country and not a section of the country, hence the northern sentiment may not be true.
Abubakar Ali said, “It looks like a mere overnight and not a north and southern thing. We shouldn’t even 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 as alleged.”
This is coming a few weeks after heavyweight northern politicians like Senator Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso, former presidential candidate of the NNPP and Babachir Lawal, former SSG accused the President of Marginalising the north.
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