Nigeria News
Realy?! Did GTBank present N10,000 cheque to UNN best graduating student?
There has been uproar on the internet after a picture of the 2017 Best Graduating Medical Student of the University of Nigeria (UNN) being presented with a GTBank cheque of N10,000 surfaced online.
THE ASSUMPTION
The picture went viral on Tuesday — just because the presence of the GTB logo on the cheque gave the impression that the award was sponsored by the bank.
Nigerians roundly criticised the sight, saying such paltry prize money was not commensurate with the toil that must have yielded the award.
Many compared the award to the prize money for various TV reality shows, including the recently concluded Big Brother Nigeria (BBN), which gifted Efe Ejeba, the winner, a cash prize of N25 million and a brand new SUV.
THE ANGER
On Twitter, the reactions include:
She will pay N9000 out of the N10,000 as bank charges. https://t.co/S3DNFInQRT
— JJ. Omojuwa (@Omojuwa) August 8, 2017
₦10,000 was the prize given to the UNN best graduating medical student.
Hey @gtbank, are you guys not ashamed of having your logo on this?? pic.twitter.com/C7xb6GD8MQ— Oke Umurhohwo (@stalyf) August 8, 2017
GT organised a Multimillion ceremony to present N10,000 cardboard size cheque to d best graduating student.
Must they embarrass themselves?
— Ayekooto (@DeeOneAyekooto) August 8, 2017
Gtbank gave the best graduating medical student in UNN 10,000 naira while Heritage Bank gave Big Brother Naija winner 25million.
Aca…what? https://t.co/BQUxhqyDtH— Oke Umurhohwo (@stalyf) August 8, 2017
UNN best graduating student – 10000naira
Big brother naija winner – 25mil
Neymar to psg – £198million
And you say education is the key?? pic.twitter.com/jqn5zxVAiK
— Cindy™ (@Cindymonel) August 8, 2017
Uniosun once gave their best graduating student a mug https://t.co/TOH6URRGnj
— Eniola ?? (@The_Lakesyde_) August 8, 2017
THE TRUTH
But it has now emerged that all the angst at GTB was misplaced. When contacted by the ICIR, the bank denied sponsoring the award.
“Hello. Thank you for contacting us,” the bank said.
“Please note that this donation was not made by GTBank, but by the University of Nigeria Medical Students Association, who made use of their cheque leaflet to create a dummy cheque. We congratulate the young woman on her remarkable achievement and wish her the best in all.”
Hello. Thank you for contacting us. Please note that this donation was not made by GTBank, but by the University of Nigeria Medical… 1/3
— Guaranty Trust Bank (@gtbank_help) August 8, 2017
…Students Association, who made use of their cheque leaflet to create a dummy cheque. We congratulate the young woman on her… 2/3
— Guaranty Trust Bank (@gtbank_help) August 8, 2017
…remarkable achievement and wish her the best in all. 3/3
— Guaranty Trust Bank (@gtbank_help) August 8, 2017
Similarly, a student of the university said the award was sponsored by the Medical Students Association of the university.
“No, the award wasn’t sponsored by GTBank,” the student told the ICIR, asking not to be named.
“It was courtesy of the Nigeria Medical Students Association UNN chapter. Though the university management promised to reward the girl with N200,000, that has not been redeemed.”
Anger misplaced, cased closed. Shall the people behind the torrents of anti-GTB abuse now render an ‘unreserved apology’ to the bank?
SOURCE: ICIR
