Many years ago, students who achieved exceptional grades or graduated with first-class honors were either automatically employed by the institutions they graduated from, or other institutions prioritized them when they applied. However, this seems to have changed in Nigeria’s academic landscape.
For Chizoba Victor Ejiofor, the best graduating pharmacy student in his department, faculty, and the overall best in the University of Nigeria (UNN) for the 2021/2022 academic session, his story is one of disappointment.
The management of UNN has yet to fulfill their promises to this exceptional student, despite his outstanding performance during his undergraduate years at the prestigious institution.
Chizoba didn’t just graduate as the best student; he nearly achieved a perfect CGPA, scoring 4.93 out of 5.00. To put that in context, that’s akin to scoring 99.93 out of 100.
For a student like him, one would expect the university not only to offer various awards for photo opportunities but also to fulfill the monetary incentives attached to them.
Unfortunately, several months after the honors, Chizoba revealed that he has yet to receive any compensation for his academic achievements.
EdubaseNG gathered that the promising pharmacist received more than a dozen awards with prizes attached on the day of the UNN 2024 convocation. Yet, to this day, he has not received a single prize from the institution.
The Struggles of Graduation
Chizoba who disclosed that he lost both parents before graduating, didn’t allow the challeges he faced deter him from achieving the feat. He survived by taking on freelance jobs, such as photography and teaching mathematics on online platforms like Find Tutors.
Scoring A’s in Nearly Every Course
Achieving a 4.93/5.00 CGPA is no small feat, and Chizoba made sure to stay focused on his studies, avoiding distractions from campus social activities.
Throughout his undergraduate years, he received only one B in a General Studies (GS) course, with the rest being A’s.
Discovered by a Philanthropist
While Chizoba was contemplating hitting the streets in search of a job—despite having little hope of finding one—his story of academic excellence reached philanthropist Alex Onyia, founder of Educare. Onyia vowed to help Chizoba secure a scholarship at a top institution in Europe or America.
Onyia, a software developer behind many school management systems in Nigeria, the UK, and other parts of Europe, promised to work with Chizoba “to secure top foreign scholarships for his postgraduate studies, possibly in the US or Europe, as soon as possible,” stating, “Nigeria doesn’t deserve him yet.”
As an alumnus of UNN himself, Onyia said he understood “how hard it is to reach this level.” He also revealed that he had credited Chizoba with the full amount the university should have attached to his awards, saying, “since the university abandoned him.”
On the path of securing scholarship abroad
On Thursday, September 12, 2024, he applied for his international passport, sponsored by the founder of Educare, who also mentioned that preparations for the Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) and an English proficiency test have begun in anticipation of a foreign scholarship.
EdubaseNG reached out to the Bursar at UNN, along with other key officials of the institution, but we had not received a response at the time of publication.
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