By Akinsuroju Olubunmi
Pure water seller scores 309 in 2024 UTME, earns full scholarship
A pure water seller, Ugwu Augustus, has achieved a remarkable feat by scoring 309 in the 2024 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) and securing a full scholarship into the university.
According to Alex Onyia, the founder of Educare, an organization that prepares candidates for UTME, Augustus had dropped out of school two years ago but was encouraged to join a preparatory class with the promise of a scholarship if he scored above 300.
“He left school two years ago and has been selling pure water in the streets. We convinced him to join the JAMB prep program with a promise that he would get a scholarship if he scored above 300,” Onyia shared on X on Sunday.
Augustus, determined to seize the opportunity, balanced attending classes with his pure water hawking job, and his hard work paid off when he scored an impressive 309 in the UTME.
“During the monthly assessments, he has been consistent with good scores, and right now, he made it. He has now been enrolled in our full scholarship program.
“He will be rewriting his WAEC from next week because he feels he is prepared enough to do it because of the intense training he gained since September.
“Interestingly, some of the students who did well in science said that Chibuzo usually stays back to explain further to them what was taught in class before he leaves for the day to sell pure water.”
Onyia added that Augustus has created a study group with his classmates where he coaches them on weekends, and all of them scored high.
“The group comprised of those who were desperately determined to score above 300 and get the scholarship. They became close friends and studied together always,” Onyia concluded.
Augustus’ inspiring journey is one of the many success stories of this year’s UTME, despite the overall poor performance recorded.
According to figures released by the Joint Admission Examination Board, 77 percent of the 1,842,464 candidates whose results were released scored less than 200.
Pure Water Seller scores 309 , UTME