It was a day of honour and celebration of excellence for the trio of Sesugh Samuel Nder, Onyinye Mildred Oguejiofor and Oluwatobi Quadri Raji, former pupils of Vaatia College, Makurdi, Benue State; Marist Comprehensive College, Nteje, Anambra State and St. Francis Catholic Secondary School, Idimu in Alimosho Local Government Area of Lagos State respectively.
They have not only brought honour to themselves and parents, but to their schools, states and the nation in general. Before the guests and key stakeholders in the nation’s education sector comprising the top government functionaries, principal officers of the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), traditional rulers, school principals, parents and fellow students, the students stood tall, as they were celebrated for their rare talent and gift of knowledge.
They emerged the students with the best results in all subjects written by more than one million students across the nation during the 2014 May/June West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE). Nder, 18; Oguejiofor, 18; and Raji, 17 stood tall where their peers feared to tread, as they were the cynosure of all eyes at the awards for their outstanding performance Meanwhile, the students have had their names written in the WAEC Hall of Fame in the yearly merit award by being recipients of the WAEC’s National Distinction and Merit Award for the May/June 2014 WASSCE.
So, to honour them in recognition of their towering achievements, brilliance and academic prowess, the West African Examinations Council, at its 53rd Annual Nigeria National Committee (NNC) meeting held at the Jojein Hotel and Resort, Oba-Ile, Akure, the Ondo State capital, presented awards of cash prizes, plaques and books to these geniuses and their schools, as well as the school with the best overall results.
The yearly celebration of excellence is regarded by WAEC in high esteem and done with pomp and pageantry. The National Committee is the highest policy-making body of WAEC in Nigeria, which is chaired by Dr. Usman Ahmed and has as members, the Director of Primary and Secondary Education in the Federal Ministry of Education, five Federal Government Nominees, representatives of tertiary institutions, state Ministries of Education, All Nigeria Conference of Principal of Secondary Schools (ANCOPSS) and other interest groups.
Also at the meeting was the Council’s Registrar, Dr. Uyi Uwadiae, who came in from the WAEC’s international office in Ghana. Nder, the best candidate, who is currently studying Software Engineering at Saint Peterburg’s Electro- Technical University, Saint Peterburg’s, Russia and could not make it to the event, recorded a total score of 659.4325, out of the possible 800, in the eight best subjects which include Mathematics and English Language.
To emerge the overall winner, Nder, who was born September 18, 1997, scored A1 in eight subjects he registered for and wrote in the examination. The subjects are Economics, Geography, English Language, Further Mathematics, Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry and Physics.
His academic prowess was said to have manifested early in life as he was the best overall pupil in primary school, best candidate in the Common Entrance Examination into junior secondary school (JSS), and the best overall student in JSS and senior secondary school (SS).
The 18-year-old boy represented Vaatia College and Benue State at the State and National Science Quiz and Mathematical Olympiads; he came second at the state final of Mathematical Olympiads Junior Category in 2011; won the third prize in essay competition organised by the National Museum; School PTA best student award in 2014 and best graduating student in 2014.
Born on October 17, 1997, Ogue-jiofor, the second best winner and Nder’s closest rival, who is presently studying Medicine and Surgery at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), had a total score of 648.5706. She scored A1 in eight subjects in Data Processing, Economics, Civic Education, English Language, Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry and Physics. Like the best overall winner, Oguejiofor, who hailed from Anambra, began her academic journey at her primary school, where she won several awards and prizes including her school’s best overall pupil in 2008, and won the second best prize in the quiz competition organised by Nigeria Securities and Exchange Commission in 2013. Raji, 17, a former student of St. Francis Catholic Secondary School, Idimu, who is studying Petroleum Engineering at the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Akoka, came third with a score of 640.2125 out of the possible 800 points.
To qualify for the award, Raji, who was born in November 1998, scored A1 in eight subjects – Christian Religious Studies, Civic Education, English Language, Further Mathematics, Mathematics, Chemistry, Physics and Computer Studies. By this feat, Nder has won for his college, Vaatia College, the award of Omo N’Oba Erediauwa Coronation Trophy for producing the Best Male Candidate in the May/June 2014 WASSCE.
Also, for her present feat, Ogujiofor had qualified her school, which was established about 14 years ago, for the award of the Omo N’Oba Erediauwa Coronation Trophy for producing the best female candidate in the May/June 2014 WASSCE. On his part, Raji, who hailed from Osun State, is a past winner of More House College University (USA) Academic Scholarship Award for Outstanding Academic Record, while he is also among the pupils from his alma mater currently being considered for scholarship admission into the United States of America.
While Nder was rewarded with a medal, a cash price of N59,000 from the international office and N200,000 from the Nigeria office; Oguejiofor and Raji apart from their medals, received N49,000 and N39,000 and N150,000 and N100,000 respectively.
Apart from the schools of the first, second and third winners,ruother schools, which got rewarded at the ceremony for their outstanding performances are Lumen Christi International High School, Uromi, Edo State; Greater Tomorrow College, Arigidi-Akoko, Ondo State; Adeyinka Comprehensive College, Omifon in Odigbo Local Government Area of Ondo State and Parker International High School, Akure. Responding on behalf of the winners, Oguejiofor, thanked their parents and teachers for providing them qualitative education and the wherewithal that aided them to tower in their studies, while also pledging their commitment to hard work and to remain good ambassadors of their various families, schools and the country at large. She said: “We shall remain grateful to everyone who had contributed to our success. We shall also continue to strive hard to make you all proud in our individual endeavours.”
Determined to celebrate academic achievements and rewards excellence, the Council, according to a non-Council member representing Nigeria on the Board of Trustees of the WAEC Endowment Fund, Dr. Usman Uba Ahmed, said the Fund was established by the Council in 1982 at its 30th annual meeting to promote educational development projects of an international nature and to provide awards for outstanding performance by candidates in the various member countries – Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone and The Gambia – in the Council’s examinations, among other objectives. He said;
“In 1984, Council instituted two categories of awards – International Awards to be competed for by candidates in more than one member country and the National Awards restricted in scope to each member country. It also ratified comprehensive criteria for the award of prizes for the WAEC School Certificate Examinations and the Liberia 12th Grade Examinations.
“To be considered eligible for the Distinction Award, a candidate must obtain Grade 1 in at least seven subjects including English Language, Mathematics, one of Physics, Chemistry and Biology, and one subject from any of the three sub-categories of core subjects. In addition, a candidate must obtain a minimum of Grade 6 in at least one subject from each of the core subject sub-categories.”
To boost and support the Nigeria National Merit Award, the Oba Erediauwa II, Oba of Benin, Omo N’Oba N’Edo Uku Akpolokpolo donated the Omo N’Oba Erediauwa Coronation Trophies in 1984 to encourage students to work for excellence and to promote their self-confidence.
While welcoming guests to the event and Ondo State, the state Governor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, commended the ex-amination body for what he described as “its long years of integrity and commitment to best practices in the conduct of examination on the continent.”
To guard against examination malpractice in the state’s school system, the governor said several measures put in place to stamp out the menace, include the State Examination Ethics and the Disciplinary Committee, raised to handle reported cases and other form of academic fraud. To this end, the governor added that a Desk Officer had been appointed for the Exam Ethics Marshals to stand strongly against examination malpractice.
Mimiko, who was represented by his deputy, Alhaji Abdul-Azeez Olugbenga Oluboyo, lauded WAEC on its internet-based innovations such as registration platform for both school-based and private candidates examinations, result checking and result verification facility, embossment candidates’ photographs on their certificates in order to curb impersonation, “and more recently, the commencement of e-marking of candidates’ answer scripts.”
The WAEC Head of Nigeria Office (HNO), Mr. Charles Eguridu, noted that apart from the merit award for the candidates, the examination council would use the occasion to appreciate its long standing members of staff by conferring on them Long Service Awards for serving the organization meritoriously for the past 40 years.
However, the Chairman of the Nigeria National Committee of WAEC, Mrs. Anne Okonkwo, added that the awards were aimed at encouraging the youth to strive for excellence in their academic pursuits. “It is my hope that some of the youth who are here today to witness this ceremony, will be challenged by these awards to work harder in order to win similar laurels in future,” she said. Mrs. Okonkwo added: “In ad-dition, a formal presentation of prize books will be made to the three best schools in the May/ June 2014 WASSCE from Ondo State.
This is in accordance with the decision of the Nigeria Sub-Board of the WAEC Endowment Fund Board of Trustees at its fourth meeting held in November 2012. “Also, the Council’s Long Service Awards are our way of expressing appreciation and gratitude to dedicated members of staff who have contributed to the Council’s success and growth, without compromising their integrity.
The members of staff, who are to be honoured today have had to endure difficult terrain and circumstances, sometimes at the risk of their lives, to carry out the Council’s assignments in Nigeria. To these worthy men and women of honour, posterity will continue to appreciate their immense contributions to the sustenance of standards and the development of education in our country.”