"My school principal punished me for scoring 321 in JAMB"

CUSORY: James Williams Chiahukamnanya Gabriel graduated with a first-class degree from Nile University of Nigeria, with a 4.95 CGPA in Economics to emerge as the overall Best Graduating Student (First Runner-Up).

James Williams Chiahukamnanya Gabriel, a 21-year-old Nigerian student, has graduated from Nile University of Nigeria with a first-class degree. He was the first runner-up for overall Best Graduating Student after earning a 4.95 CGPA in Economics.

James Williams revealed in an interview that he cried when he learned that he had scored 305 in the 2019 UTME. He has shown that one should never settle for less when one can reach the stars.

James Williams was named the Department of Economics’ Best Graduating Student after earning a 4.95 CGPA. In addition, he is the overall best graduating student ( first runner up) and the best graduating student in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences.

In an interview, he clarified that rather than being a traitor, he chose to make the most of his academic endeavors in order to uphold the privilege and resources bestowed upon him.

He revealed that after receiving four distinctions in his WAEC results, and a UTME score of above 300, he was given the opportunity to study Economics at the Abuja-based university on a full scholarship.

“Six times in his four years of education, he achieved a 5.0 GPA”, according to the head of an academic community.

At the Nile University’s convocation ceremony, he won a cash reward of N750,000 in addition to a fully funded postgraduate scholarship worth millions of Naira.

Why I wanted to graduate with a first-class

According to James Williams “From the get-go, I’ve always been the student that went, “Why not?”. Why not attain a first class if it is attainable? Why not make the most of the opportunities life throws out to me? Only 17% of Nigerian students make it to University and far fewer get to be offered a full-tuition scholarship to study in a 1.2m per semester university.

I received a punishment from my principal for scoring 321 on the UTME mock exam.

The first-class graduate also told a similar story of how the principal of his secondary school disciplined him for receiving a score of 321 on the UTME mock exam.

According to him, after the results of their UTME mock exam were announced, the principal called the SS3 students to a class for an evaluation. Pupils who didn’t meet expectations were made to kneel, and some even caned. Up until the moment, his name was called and something odd occurred, he said he was just a witness to the events.

He said he had the highest score in the school, 321 and he wasn’t very disappointed or displeased with the result, but his principal appeared visibly agitated; “this may or may not have been a performative moment”.

However, his principal inquired, saying, “James, how do you feel about your score?” and James said, “I think it is a good one”. Before he could make any other statement, James was given the command to get down on his knees and to be caned for believing that 321 was sufficient.

James stated: “Surely I got the message but I spited the antic. The message, do not be satisfied with less when more is yet attainable, I felt it could be effectively passed in far more genial ways. I have always been a perceptive student, but beyond the antic, the message has been one that has guided my path all my life, not settling for average when resounding academic excellence is yet attainable.”