18-year-old Peter Arotiba from Kogi State was on Thursday awarded the National Distinction and Merit Award by the West Africa Examination Council (WAEC) for emerging overall best student in the 2018 examinations.
Arotiba, who is currently studying Medicine and Surgery at the University of Ibadan, graduated from the Nigeria Air Force Secondary School, Ikeja, Lagos State.
He was awarded during the opening of the 57th Annual Meeting of the Nigeria National Committee (NNC) of WAEC, in Abuja on Thursday.
According to News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Arotiba had obtained distinction in all the eight subjects offered in the 2018 WAEC.
Speaking, Arotiba attributed his success to God’s grace and hard work. He also thanked his parents and teachers for playing significant roles in his feat.
“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
Also speaking, Chairman, NNC, Hajiya Binta Abdulkadir said the introduction of ICT, especially the online registrations of candidates for WAEC had improved the service delivery of the committee.
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.
“The council, over the years, has greatly improved on its service delivery to its numerous stakeholders. The Nigeria National Office, in particular, has taken advantage of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to improve its service delivery.
“These, among others, include the online registration of candidates for both the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) for school candidates and private candidates.
“This development has enabled the council in Nigeria to achieve 100 per cent migration from paper-based to electronic enrolment of candidates for its examinations.
“There is also deployment of Quick Response Code (QR-Code) on its certificates, which makes it impossible to falsify certificates issued by the Council,” she said
Similarly, Muhammad Bello, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), pledged the support of the ministry to the council for the advancement of education in the country.
He, also commended WAEC for efforts put in place to curb examination malpractice, while providing a conducive environment for education to thrive.
NAN reported that Miss 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.
