CORONA Secondary School, Agbara, Ogun State, has put Nigeria on the global map as two of its students, Ikenna Uruakpa and Anna Adobamen, emerged joint second at the global Standardized Aptitude Test (SAT) globally.
At an award ceremony, the school also celebrated one of its students, Ibukun Oduntan, who scored 344 points (out of 400) in the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) – the second highest score nationwide; while two other students are among the top five in the Nigerian Stock Exchange essay competition.
In her opening speech at the prize giving day for the 2017/2018 academic session, the principal of the school, Mrs. Chinedum Oluwadamilola, said, “We celebrate each child’s determined efforts; not only in academic pursuit, but in all spheres such as sports, arts, behaviour and the likes.
“In the year under review, our students, some of whom are alumni now, performed fantastically well in their public examinations, and many of them exceeded their own expectations. They made excellent grades in the last May/June West African Senior Secondary Certificate Examinations (WASSCE), with about 96 per cent pass at distinction level in English, Mathematics and other subjects.
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“Ten of our students scored above 300, and 19 of them scored between 280 and 299 (in UTME). We are proud to say that many of them have since moved on to top brand global schools, and they are doing very well.”
Speaking on the theme for the day, ‘Exploring Creative Excellence’, the guest speaker and managing director of First City Monument Bank, Mr. Adam Nuru, said, “You are said to have excelled when you become best in what you do. So, just tell yourself that ‘I want to be the best in what I do’. You don’t achieve excellence by just being you; it’s by beating the person that is in you, and even doing better, and better, and better.
“If you don’t try, you don’t fail. Sometimes you fail, but never forget your goal, and keep trying until you get it right.”
In an interview, one of the co-winners of the SAT award, Ikenna Uruakpa, said, “I want to thank my teachers, my parents and my peers, especially the external teachers that came to help us. If it were by my efforts alone, I wouldn’t be here at all.”
He also described Corona as a great school with a history of excellence.
Also, Anna Adobamen, the other co-winner, said “I feel really excited about being one of the best in the world at this level. I owe all thanks to God almighty, the school, our ever-supportive teachers and my parents.
“I appreciate the fact that the school went extra miles to get external teachers to come help us prepare for the SSCE examination. I believe with the milestone I achieved in my academic pursuit, other students would be encouraged to put in more efforts to get the best results, even one better than mine.”
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