BETWEEN SAHARA REPORTERS AND SULCATA ENTERTAINMENT

 On the 5th of October 2014, Sahara Reporter posted a story with this headline and content

'Beauty Vs. Brains: Most Beautiful Girl At UNILAG Rewarded With A Brand New Car While The Most Brilliant Debater Gets A Laptop

Damilare Babajide, a 4th year law student at the University of Lagos (UNILAG), yesterday took home a brand new car and other unnamed perks after emerging winner of the 2014 Miss UNILAG pageant.

Ms. Babajide’s windfall immediately ignited a debate among students and lecturers, with some criticizing the material rewards bestowed on a so-called beauty queen when the same university hands a mere computer and some cash to winners of its demanding debate contest. 

One lecturer, who asked for anonymity, said he was troubled that the car and other gifts to the university’s beauty queen far outstripped the prizes given on September 10 to the winner of the university debate competition. Zainab Olaitan, a 2nd year political science major at UNILAG who won the university’s rigorous academic debate competition, was awarded N100,000 and a laptop computer. UNILAG vice chancellor, Rahman Bello, handed the cash and laptop to the indomitable 18-year-old debater.

The lecturer also noted that last year’s winner of the debate competition, Ms. Mary Adegunloye, received a laptop and N50,000. “I understand that the university management was planning to give the same paltry sum of N50,000 cash prize this year to the winner of the debate, but decided to double the cash prize because of criticisms from some lecturers and student leaders,” said the source.

In addition, he said that pressure was put on the university’s management to give N50,000 each to runners-up in this year’s debate. 

Ms. Damilare received her car gift today after emerging Miss UNILAG in a beauty contest organized by the Directorate of Student Affairs (DSA). SaharaReporters could not immediately ascertain the amount of cash and other perks awarded to the beauty queen, but Ms. Damilare told our correspondent in a TV interview that the sum was “encouraging.”

Reacting to the disparity in gifts for the beauty contest and the debate competition, a few students told our correspondent that the relatively small reward for intellectual achievement was likely to affect the academic morale of students on campus.'

To clarify the positions of things, Sulcata Entertainment which is the entertainment company that organized Miss UNILAG Beauty Pageant sent this Blackberry Messenger Broadcast Message :

  

'URGENT UPDATE:

There has been a conscious attempt directed towards tarnishing and frustrating the efforts of the Entertainment company that organized the just concluded Miss Unilag 2014.

PLS NOTE:: Sulcata Entertainment was responsible for the purchase and delivery of the CAR to the winner Ms Damilare Babajide Uche, a 400level student of Law, University of Lagos.

The D.S.A and other members of the school administration only
1) Gave Sulcata Entertainment the right to organize Miss Unilag 2014.
2) Officially presented the gifts to the winners of the pageant.

The gifts were made possible through the kind gesture of our sponsors who became our back bone.

Finally, Miss Unilag 2014 winner "Damilare Babajide" was rewarded with the star prize of a CAR which was provided by the pageant organisers "SULCATA ENTERTAINMENT" not the University of Lagos Management as against the reports being made by "SaharaReporters". It Is wrong to paint an untrue and unclear picture, making the University seem like it celebrates social activities over educational activities.

Any credible media company should investigate and get facts before making posts. And not just make posts detrimental to a brand for selfish reasons.

#Signed @SulcataEnt

For any questions or inquiries, pls contact us via;
» Email: sulcataent@gmail.com
» IG & Twitter @SulcataEnt
» Call: 09092482638

Pls Re-Echo ))) let the truth be heard.

From my point of view, I think Sulcata Entertainment should send a press release to Sahara Reporters to clarify this issue. It is only then that Sahara Reporters can rewrite an objective story because the story they published is not objective enough.

by: Akinpelu, Sherif Lanre

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