MURIC urges national recognition for Nigerian teen who won global English contest

THE Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has joined growing calls for the celebration of 17-year-old Nafisa Abdullah Aminu, a Nigerian student from Yobe State who recently emerged as the world’s best in English language skills at the 2025 TeenEagle Global Finals held in London, United Kingdom.

Nafisa’s victory, achieved by outperforming over 20,000 participants from 69 countries, including native English-speaking nations, has been widely described as a remarkable academic feat.

MURIC, a faith-based advocacy group, said the win represents not only a personal triumph but a powerful symbol for educational advancement in Nigeria, particularly in the northern region.

In a statement, MURIC’s Executive Director, Professor Ishaq Akintola, called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to honour Nafisa with the same level of recognition accorded to Nigeria’s recent sports champions.

The group praised President Tinubu for recognising the young sports heroines, including the Super Falcons and D’Tigress, with national honours, financial rewards and housing.

However, it expressed a strong belief that it is high time academic excellence received equal, if not greater, celebration.

MURIC emphasised that the government must move to re-prioritise education by offering substantial rewards to students who achieve academic greatness.

The organisation argued that such gestures could shift youth culture away from anti-intellectual trends and towards academic ambition, particularly in light of Nigeria’s recent poor showing in the 2025 West African Examination Council (WAEC) results, where only 38.32 percent of candidates earned credit passes in five core subjects.

The statement also took aim at what it described as a misplaced value system in Nigeria, where individuals celebrated for entertainment or reality television achievements have received state-sponsored rewards, while outstanding academic achievers remain under-acknowledged.

According to the statement, this is the time to know what Nigerian leaders truly value.

It noted that, “We have had governors in this country who lavished millions of naira and properties on Big Brother Naija winners. Where are our values? Who did this to Nigeria?”

MURIC called on Governor Mai Mala Buni of Yobe State to honour Nafisa by naming her the state’s Education Ambassador and using her story to inspire students across the region.

aThe group suggested organising town hall meetings and public events featuring Nafisa, especially in Northern states, as a way to counter educational apathy and dispel negative stereotypes.

“Let her ride in an open jeep around the capital to show Yobe children that it pays to be educated. Her victory has destroyed myths and shattered stereotypes about so-called ‘uneducated’ parts of Nigeria,” the statement added.

MURIC said with an estimated 80 percent of Nigeria’s 20 million out-of-school children residing in the North, it sees Nafisa’s achievement as a timely opportunity for both symbolic and practical action.

It said President Tinubu has a golden opportunity to reshape the destiny of Nigerian youths, noting that recognising Nafisa’s academic excellence could recalibrate the mentality of the young citizens and revive the value placed on education.

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