An 18-year-old Nigerian, Peter Arotiba, has been awarded the National Distinction and Merit Award by the West Africa Examination Council (WAEC) for emerging overall best student in the 2018 examinations.
Arotiba, a native of Kogi State, who is currently studying Medicine and Surgery at the University of Ibadan, graduated from the Nigeria Air Force Secondary School, Ikeja, Lagos State.
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He was recognised alongside two others at the opening of the 57th Annual Meeting of the Nigeria National Committee (NNC) of WAEC in Abuja on Thursday.
Arotiba scored distinction in all the eight subjects offered in the 2018 West African Secondary School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).
Speaking with journalists after the awards presentation, Arotiba said that achieving success was a function of so many factors, the chief of which was God’s grace and hard work.
“A lot of heroes, who have participated in building me up to whom I am today, instilled the spirit of excellence in me – my parents, my teachers and, personal hard work.
“I have natural passion for reading, so studying was not an issue to me. When you work hard and depend on God’s grace, one will never be disappointed.
“The sacrifice made to achieve this feat was high level of discipline during examinations as I let go of other programmes I enjoyed and concentrated fully.
“I study ahead by studying during the holidays. Lazying around during the holidays and playing around with friends during holidays were some of the things I refused doing,” he said.
Meanwhile, Head of National Office, WAEC, Olu Adenipekun, said the NNC was set up as the highest policy-making organ of the council which ensured that policies were formulated in the best interest of the council.
Mr Adenipekun said that the committee was also made to effect positive changes in the education sector of the country.
Also, Chairman, NNC, Binta Abdulkadir, said that the council had improved on its service delivery by taking advantage of the ICT to improve the service, including the online registration of candidates for WASSCE for school and private candidates.
Abdulkadir said that the development had enabled the country to handle its migration from paper to electronic enrollment for its examinations.
She added that the council had also perfected its electronic portal system, an online portal which provides an avenue for the verification of results.
She noted that the council would also be recognising the three best schools in the WASSCE, who would be subsequently presented with the WAEC endowment fund whose prize is worth 5,000 dollars.
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Oluwabukunmi Adeagbo, who is currently studying Medicine at the University of Debrecen, Hungary came second while Prince Abiamamela Obi-Obuoha, now studying Mechatronic Engineering at the Afe Babalola University, came third.
WAEC also named the three overall best schools from the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in the 2019 WASSCE to include Loyola Jesuit College, Louisville Girls’ Secondary School and Stella Maris College, Abuja.
