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An 18-year-old Nigerian, Peter Arotiba, from Kogi State, has been awarded the National Distinction and Merit Award by the West Africa Examination Council(WAEC) for emerging the overall best student in the 2018 West African Senior Secondary Certificate Examination(WASSCE).
Arotiba, who is currently studying Medicine and Surgery at the University of Ibadan, graduated from the Nigeria Air Force Secondary School, Ikeja, Lagos State.
He was recognised alongside two others at the opening of the 57th Annual Meeting of the Nigeria National Committee of WAEC in Abuja.
The News Agency of Nigeria(NAN) reports that Arotiba obtained distinction in all the eight subjects offered in the 2018 examination.
Speaking with journalists after the award presentation, Arotiba stated that achieving success was a function of so many factors, the chief of which was God’s grace and hard work.
He said: “A lot of heroes who have participated in building me up to who I am today instilled the spirit of excellence in me – my parents, my teachers and personal hard work.
“I have natural passion for reading; so, studying was not an issue to me. When you work hard and depend on God’s grace, one will never be disappointed.
“The sacrifice made to achieve this feat was high level of discipline during examinations as I let go of other programmes I enjoyed and concentrated fully.
“I study ahead by studying during the holidays. Lazying around during the holidays and playing around with friends during holidays were some of the things I refused doing.”