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By Gabriel Dike
Two Nigerian students stood tall at the 70th annual meeting of the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), recently, when they emerged first and third best in the May/June 2021 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).
Isabella Chinasa Nweze and Godswill Izuchukwu Edeani, both 17 years old, beat 2,243,773 other candidates from Nigeria, The Gambia, Ghana, Liberia and Sierra Leone. Nweze emerged overall best in West Africa and Nigeria while Edeani placed third in West Africa and second in Nigeria.
Nweze obtained eight A’s in Marketing, Economics, Civic Education, English Language, General Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry and Computer Studies. The former student of Lagoon School, Lekki, Lagos State, who wants to study Computer Science, had T-score of 606.8766 in eight subjects, including General Mathematics and English Language.
Other past laurels, awards and prizes she won included overall best pupil from primary four to six; first position in Spelling Bee Competition, Lagoon School, and came second in Catch Them Young scholarship competition organized by the Society of Petroleum Engineers. She was semi-finalist, Lagos STEM competition and got distinction in Lagos State’s Basic Education Certificate Examination.
Nweze was overall best student in JSS2 and JSS3; second overall best student in SS1, SS2 and SS3; third position in website development for girls in ICT competition and quarter finalist in the National Olympiad, 2019/2020.
The second prize went to a Ghanaian, Brako Asante. He made eight A’s in Social Studies, English Language, Further Mathematics, General Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Integrated Science and had T-score of 600.9987 in eight subjects including General Mathematics and English Language.
The 17-year-old is studying Computer Science at Ashesi University College, Accra, Ghana. He was a former student of Presbyterian Boys’ Senior High School, Accra.
Edeani obtained eight A’s in Economics, Civic Education, English Language, Further Mathematics, General Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry and Animal Husbandry. He had a T-score of 598.1588. The former student of Air Force Comprehensive School, Agbani, Enugu State, is studying Medicine and Surgery, University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN).
Edeani emerged best graduating student of his school and best in Chief of Air Staff National Quiz and Debate in 2021.
Nweze told The Education Report: “I am happy I made my school and family proud. My hard work has paid off.”
She said her young sister broke the good news to her and was confused at the initial period but got excited afterward.
Her mum, Oge, said: “I feel very happy. I didn’t see the award coming because I knew there were many brilliant students in her class. She has been doing well in her .”
Principal, Lagoon School, Mrs Doreen Onyekwelu, said of Nweze: “Not only is she good in academics, she is all-round in character and learning. It is the second time the school will produce overall best in WASSCE. Simisola Agbaje, a former student emerged the best in West African in 2009.
“The performance of our students has been wonderful with credit pass in all the subjects. From SS1, we start to prepare our students with past questions and revision. We encourage them to have the right spirit to performance under any circumstance.”
Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo and Minister of State for Education, Hon. Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, who were present at the annual meeting, lauded Nweze and Edeani for making the nation proud. Osinbajo also showered encomiums on WAEC for its achievements in the last 70 years. He challenged the council to embrace technology to enhance speedy delivery of conduct of exams, release of results and tackle exam malpractices.
Others present included Minister of Youth and Sports, Mr. Sunday Dare, chairman, WAEC, Prof. Ato Essuman, chief government nominee on the council, Hajiya Binta Abdulkadir, head of national office, WAEC, Mr. Patrick Areghan, and Prof. Ngozi Osarenren. They also applauded the performance of Nweze and Edeani.
Registrar, WAEC, Mr. Pateh Bah, said 2,379,380 candidates sat for the council’s international examination; the figure was made of 2,243,773 school candidates and 135,607 private candidates:
“The candidates included 1,191,867 males and 1,187,513 females. The 2021 total entry figure reflected an increase of 114,673 (or 5.06%) over the 2020 figure of 2,264,707. It also showed a rise of 28,315 (or 1.20%) compared to the 2019 of 2,351,065.
“A country-by-country analysis of the total candidature showed that The Gambia registered 21,058 candidates (or 0.89%) made up of 16,235 school candidates and 4,823 private candidates. Ghana had 499,062 candidates (or 20.97%) consisting of 446,359 school candidates and 52,703 private candidates.
“Liberia presented 46,268 candidates (or 1.94%), among them 42,727 school candidates and 3,541 private candidates. Nigeria enrolled 1,633,858 candidates (or 68.67%), including 1,573,857 school candidates and 60,001 private candidates. Sierra Leone got 179,134 candidates (or 7.53%) comprising 164,595 school candidates and 14,539 private candidates.
“The council’s main national examinations were conducted for 1,061,919 candidates, out of, which The Gambia presented 109,258 candidates (or 10.29%), Ghana 574,361 (or 54.09%), Liberia 84,243 (or 7.93%) and Sierra Leone 294,057 (or 27.69%). The council does not conduct national examinations in Nigeria.”
