Schools, candidates shine as waec doles out prizes to winners of distinction /merit awards

The new International Office of the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) located at Agidingbi in Lagos, last week, witnessed a rich assembly of students, teachers, parents and administrators. It was WAEC’s big day – the opening of the 54th Annual Meeting of the Nigeria National Committee of the Council.

But it was also the Council’s National Distinction/Merit Award Day. And as if to highlight the festive atmosphere, the Nigeria Police Band and members of the Lagos State Art Troupe were on hand to entertain the gathering.

The most decorated school at the event was Loyola Jesuit College, Abuja. The school received the prestigious Augustus Bandele Oyediran Trophy “for producing the best overall results in May/June 2015.”

It was also awarded the Omo N’Oba Erediauwa Coronation Trophy “for producing the best female candidate” in the same examination.

The Augustus Bandele Oyediran Trophy was instituted in 1986 by Dr A.B.O Oyediran in memory of his father. It is awarded each year to the secondary school in Nigeria with the best overall results.

The endowment also provides for the Augustus Bandele Oyediran Prize awarded each year to the best overall school in West Africa.

Loyola Jesuit College which has won the Trophy six times is now on a par with Queen’s College, Lagos, which won its sixth Trophy in 2000.

Also on the winners’ list was the Orita-mefa Baptist Model School(OBMS), Ibadan which clinched the Omo N’Oba Erediauwa Coronation Trophy “for producing the best male candidate” in the examination.

Three endowment prizes instituted for schools in Lagos State were also awarded at the ceremony. The Lagoon School, Lekki, was honoured for producing the “best aggregate results in the May/June 2015 WASSCE in Lagos State.”

Sagab College, Ikorodu, and Wellspring College, Omole Phase II, Ikeja, won in the second and third categories, respectively.

Three things are common about the three candidates who won the National Distinction Awards. First, they were all born in 1999, which means that they were 16 years old at the time they sat for the examination in May 2015. Second, they all gained admission to universities immediately after their secondary school education. And finally, they were all represented at the event by their parents and siblings, because they had started examinations in their different schools.

The first prize winner was David Oluwasayo Babalola, who obtained Distinction in nine subjects including English Language, Mathematics and Yoruba Language. Babalola who attended Oritamefa Baptist Model School, Ibadan, scored a total T-Score of 673.7626, and is now a medical student at the University of Ibadan.

The second prize was won by Philip Toluwase Alabi of Our Lady and St Francis Catholic College, Osogbo, Osun State. He obtained Distinction in eight subjects, including English Language and Mathematics, with a total T-Score of 667.1802. Alabi is also studying Medicine and Surgery at the University of Ibadan.

Miss Lewechi Ugonma Nkata who attended Loyola Jesuit College, Abuja, won the third prize with Distinction in eight subjects, including English and Mathematics, and a total T-Score of 660.2430. She now studies Chemical Engineering at the University of Birmingham, United kingdom.

Speaking earlier on the relevance of the awards, the Head of the National Office (HNO) of WAEC, Mr Olu Adenipekun, said winners of the awards have always been exceptional throughout their academic careers – before, during and after their secondary school education.

“One of the major objectives of the WAEC Endowment Fund is to support awards for outstanding performances by candidates in the various member countries,” 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 National Awards restricted in scope to each member country.

“To be considered eligible for a Distinction Award, a candidate must obtain Grade I 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.”

He also pointed out that such results must have been obtained “at the first attempt, and at one and the same sitting.”

Speaking further, he observed: “Two facts have emerged since the awards were instituted, namely: that the winners have always been high flyers whose academic excellence spanned their primary and secondary school careers and who have continued to blaze the trail in the best universities in Nigeria, Europe and America. And no school or class of schools has the monopoly of producing brilliant candidates as village community schools have, once in a while, produced award winners.”

The annual meeting was declared open by the Governor of Lagos, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode, who was represented by Mr Fela Bank-Olemoh,  the Governor’s Special Adviser on Education.