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Kamsiyochukwu Umeh Precious, the overall best candidate in the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB)'s Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examinations (UTME) has won a cash gift of ₦2.5 million from the Chief Executive Officer and President of Erisco Foods Limited, Dr Eric Umeofia.
The exam body announced Umeh, a student of Deeper Life High School, Mowe, as the top scorer in the 2023 UTME with a total score of 360.
A breakdown of her score showed that Umeh got 99 in Chemistry, 98 in Mathematics, 97 in Physics, and 66 in English.
Moved by the student's academic achievement, Umeofia during a chat with The Punch on Friday, July 7, 2023, pledged to reward her with ₦2.5m.
In addition, the Erisco Foods CEO also announced various cash rewards to the administrator of the school, the four subject teachers, and two other best students of the school.
Kamsiyochukwu finally gets her flowers
It seems the brilliant student is finally getting her deserved recognition after a dispute over the authentic highest scorer took the shine off her feat.
The position of the UTME top scorer became a national debate during the week after another UTME candidate, Mmesoma Ejikeme, claimed she scored the highest with 362 marks.
Even though JAMB, the body that organises UTME, has since established Ejikeme's claim as fraud and authenticated Umeh's 360 marks as the highest for the year, the dust is yet to fully settle on the matter.
'I read for six hours a day' - Umeh
Meanwhile, speaking on how she managed to ace the exam, Umeh, in a rare interview on Arise TV on Friday, said early preparation for was critical to her performance.
She said she started preparing for the examination immediately after she commenced her SS3 class and reviewed past questions to familiarise herself with the system.
The Anambra native also commended her school and dedicated teachers for organising classes and mock exams which helped with her performance.
While speaking about her reading culture, Umeh said she read for an average of six hours a day leading up to the day of the examination.