THE leaders and people of Ihiala Local Government Area in Anambra state have expressed their joyfulness to the governor, Willie Obiano on the outstanding performance of Anambra indigenes in the latest Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) conducted by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB).
According to the figures published by JAMB, Anambra State indigenes won both the first and second overall results in the 2020 JAMB examination for admission into Nigerian higher institutions.
The best performance was posted by Miss Agnes Maduafokwa who scored 365 out of a maximum of 400 marks while the second best result was by David Nwobi who scored 363 marks.
C. Don Adinuba, Commissioner for Information & Public Enlightenment who disclosed this on Thursday pointed out that delegates from the LGA were elated by the performance of the two students that demonstrated the slogan of the state, “Light of the Nation” in their academic pursuit.
In a statement jointly signed by Barrister Chidi Udemmadu, the member representing Ihiala 1 in the Anambra State House of Assembly; Igwe Emmnuel Nnabuife, chairman of both the Ihiala Local Government Area Traditional Rulers Council and of the Anambra South Senatorial Traditional Rulers Council; and Chief Okey Chukwu, President General of the Ihiala Progress Union (IPU) in Ihiala, the people expressed cheerfulness.
“Leaders and people of Ihiala Local Government Area are pleased to announce that Miss Maduafokwa is our dear daughter who has made the whole state proud by her prodigious achievement.
“The exceedingly impressive performance of our daughter is consistent in the brilliant account of Anambra people in all academic endeavours”, they said.
They recalled the golden prize won by students of Regina Pacis Model Secondary School, Onitsha two years ago in California, United States, in the global competition in the use of the Internet to solve social problems.
The Regina Pacis students won the first prize with their development of an application to detect fake drugs, a global scourge.
They also recalled that St John’s Technical Secondary School at Alor clinched the third prize in the World Festival of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) held in Tunis, Tunisia, between February 21 and 27, last year.
“We also note with pride how schools and teachers in Anambra State last October won four out of the 24 prizes during the World Teachers Day marked in Abuja, becoming the only state in the whole country to win more than one prize.
“Anambra State also went home with two of the four vehicles donated by President Muhammadu Buhari for their academic excellence.
“We remember with pride and gratitude that Governor Obiano sponsored another proud daughter of Ihiala Local Government Area, Miss Tochukwu Anyigbo, to participate in the World Robotics Competition in Mexico in 2018, and her group won the third prize”, the people said.
They, in the light of this latest development, urged Gov Obiano to award a scholarship to Miss Agnes Maduafokwa for “her excellent result in the examination organized by JAMB, in line with the governor’s most commendable gestures of rewarding Anambra indigenes who bring glory to the state through academic brilliance.