The Governor of Anambra State, Chief Willie Obiano, is set to honour Miss Egoagwuagwu Agnes Madufokwa and Master David Okwuchukwu Nwobi, the two top scoring candidates in the 2020 examination conducted by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) for admission into Nigerian universities.
Miss Egoagwuagwu Agnes Madufokwa, from Ihiala in Ihiala Local Government Area, applied to study Industrial Chemical Production at the University of Ibadan and scored 365, the highest score ever in JAMB history.
David Okwuchukwu Nwobi scored the second highest grade with 363 and applied to study Mechanical Engineering at the Kwara State University.
Speaking to the Anambra Broadcasting Service (ABS), Anambra state Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenement, Mr C. Don Adinuba, said the Governor is always “elated at the wonderful news of the performances of Anambra sons and daughters the world over, and is eager to meet and honour Egoagwuagwu, David and their parents as soon as possible”.
Continuing, Adinuba said, “The performances of Egoagwuagwu Agnes Madufokwa and Nwobi Okwuchukwu David, as the two top candidates in the 2020 JAMB examinations are a continuation of the tradition of excellence that Ndi Anambra are known for. For instance, Egoagwuagwu’s mother, Engr Ijeoma Madufokwa in her days also achieved great academic results. She was the best graduating Chemical Engineering student, graduating with 2nd class honours, upper division (2/1) in Chemical Engineering in 1997 at the University of Benin. She was also the best graduating student in the Master in Business Administration (MBA cohort 4) class of 2007, at the Lagos Business School”.
Chief Emeka Madufokwa said his daughter Egoagwuagwu who is 16 years old, and the only girl among 3 older brothers and 1 younger brother achieved the feat through hardwork. “She has received offers from universities in America including partial scholarships so the family is undecided yet on which she will go for. Egoagwuagwu is looking for a scholarship to support the partial scholarship offered her by some US Universities. Our family is blessed as her older brothers are also doing exceptionally well in top American universities”.
Mrs Ijeoma Madufokwa described her daughter as a “normal teenager, domesticated and fun loving. She loves books a lot, and she reads even during trips to the village at Christmas or during family holidays. She always brings her books along. She pushes herself so hard. As a senior secondary (SS2) student, she sat for GCE examinations as a private candidate and achieved 6As and 2Bs; she worried so much about the 2Bs. That’s the type of person she is”.
Professor Kate Omenugha, Anambra State Commissioner for Basic Education, said; “I am not surprised that Governor Obiano is planning to host the 2 top scoring candidates in this year’s JAMB examinations. We have a long list of such honours by His Excellency for performing Ndi Anambra in the educational sector. I recall the honours done to the Anambra school teacher, Rose Nkemdilim Obi, who emerged winner of the maiden edition of the Maltina Teacher-of-the-Year in 2015. He also honoured Anambra teachers and schools that excelled at the 2019 President’s Teachers and Schools Awards for Excellence in Education organized by the Federal Government through the Federal Ministry of Education. Anambra State won prizes in the following categories; best public secondary school in the country, the best secondary school administrator, and for producing both the first and second runners up in the Best Administrator category”.
“Recall also that in 2018, the Governor honoured our students from Regina Pacis Secondary School, Onitsha who won the World Technovation Challenge Competition in the USA, and students of St John’s Science and Technical College, Alor, in Idemili South Local Government Area who won Bronze Medal at the International Festival of Engineering, Science and Technology which took place in Tunisia in 2019.
Professor Omenugha said that Governor Obiano is a champion of educational development, “through his support, Anambra Teaching -On -Air programme, a partnership project between Anambra state Ministry of Basic Education and Anambra Broadcasting Service has become a resounding success and a reference point in Nigeria during this Covid-19 lockdown period”.