Last Monday was a day of
glory for Miss Tolulope Falokun, an indigene of Ondo State, who emerged
as the overall best candidate in the 2011 West African Senior School
Certificate Examination as the state government organised a befitting
reception for her, reports SUNDAY ABORISADE.
Seventeen year-old Tolulope Falokun,
who had distinctions (A1) in all the nine subjects she attempted in the
2011 West African Senior School Certificate Examination was in high
spirit as she alighted from the official car of the Ondo State
Commissioner for Education, Mr. Remi Olatubora, on Monday.
Tolu rode in the same vehicle with the
commissioner from Akure to Ondo town where a befitting reception was
organised for her at her Alma Mata, the St. Louis Secondary school.
Her principal, teachers, non-academic
staff and selected pupils of the school who were already seated before
her arrival in company with officials of the state Ministry of
Education, gave her a standing ovation as she stepped into the venue of
the reception.
Everybody that spoke on the occasion
paid glowing tributes to Falokun’s simple nature and her quest for
excellence. She was described as intelligent, hardworking,
serious-minded and above all, highly disciplined pupil.
Born into the Samuel Falokun family on
February 20, 1995, Tolulope is a native of Akure, and the third of four
female children of her parents.
She was among the best five students admitted into St. Louis Secondary School in 2005.
Tolu, who came first in the ANCOPSS
National Quiz competition had distinctions in all the subjects she
attempted in the Junior Secondary School State Exams in 2008.
Tolu came first in the Ekimogun Essay
Competition of December, 2010, hence, she featured in the 2010 Ondo
State calendar. She also came first in several inter school
competitions.
She was made the senior prefect of her
school, because of her exemplary brilliance. Her younger sister, Ibukun,
now in SSII, is currently the senior prefect of the same all female
school.
The principal of the school, Mrs.
Evelyn Akindojutimi, while addressing the gathering, said the school,
established in January1954, was initially owned by the Catholic before
it was taken over by the government.
She said the school has been noted for its high standard of discipline and good results in examinations and academics.
She said, “Since there are only two
terms for the final year pupils, our teachers work tirelessly everyday
of the week to make sure that the West African Examination Council
syllabus was completed before the end of February. Thereafter, they
start revision from SS1 work.”
Analysis of the school’s 2011 result
made available to our correspondent showed that none of the 146 pupils
that sat for the exam failed English Language, physics, geography,
chemistry, literature in english, Christian religious knowledge
financial accounting, typing, further mathematics, visual art, food and
nutrition, home management , agricultural science, technical drawing and
commerce.
All the pupils recorded 100 per cent
success in the above subjects while they recorded 97 per cent pass in
mathematics, 90 per cent in Economics, 98 per cent in Yoruba language,
and 92 per cent in Government.
Tolu’s father, who is a civil engineer, is a contractor while her mother, a nurse, is a civil servant in the state.
They told our correspondent that they
enrolled Tolu in the school because it is a Catholic school with high
standard and that the teachers are well dedicated and disciplined.
They explained that a private teacher was hired for her when she was in the primary school.
Tolu’s counsellor, Mrs. Cecilia Bello,
described her as a brilliant pupil, who was always reading in the
library. She also said she was a very active and responsible pupil.
“She (Tolu) is not afraid of challenges.
She loves teaching her juniors and even her mates. She is good in all
subjects. She is not proud. She is responsible and best in everything,”
Bello added.
A Russian, married to a Nigerian, Mrs.
Ludmila Adeyemi, who was Tolu’s principal in JSS 1, said, “When I saw
the type of girl she is, I decided to give her the best I could.
“She got A1 in all her subjects in the
JSS exams. We prayed so that her result would not be seized by WAEC
because it was too good.”
In an interview with our correspondent,
Tolu said, “Our teachers prepared us early for the exams. We had
special lectures everyday more than four months into the exams because
we had covered our syllabus since first term SSIII.
“My Government teacher designed a
timetable for me which I followed religiously to make sure that I cover
all my subjects. Our teachers also set up study groups for us and I did
not miss any of these arrangements.
“I prayed hard and worked hard, using my
timetable as a guide. I denied myself a lot of things especially social
events. I made the sacrifice because I know there is ample time for all
that after my education.
“I used to have a Ghanaian teacher who
is very good in English language and Mathematics and he really thought
me well when I was in the primary school.
“I go for lessons during holidays and I
am always reading even during festivities like Christmas and Easter. I
want to become a lawyer but in the academic. I really want to write a
lot of law books because I love writing and reading.
“My greatest challenge was when
everybody including my teachers, were expressing fears that my result
could be seized by WAEC because of my performance in Mock exams.
“My parents and siblings joined me in
prayers and fasting so that the result would not be seized by WAEC. Our
fears were necessitated by similar experience that I had in the past.
“I had sat for the entrance examination
of the Federal Government Girls College in Akure only for them to seize
my results because they thought it was not possible for a primary school
pupil to write what I wrote without any form of assistance. I Thank God
my WASSCE was not seized,” she added.
Meanwhile, WAEC has commended the
Ondo State Government on the emergence of Falokun as the overall best
pupil in the 2011 WASSCE.
The examination body, through a letter
addressed to the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education and
signed by Mr. Austin Aidokha on behalf of the Head of WAEC National
office in Nigeria, described Falokun’s result as unique.
It explained that another candidate, Mr.
Chuks Ugochukwu, also had distinctions (A1) in nine subjects with a
T-score analysis of 712.0972 but that Falokun emerged the best with a T-
score analysis of 742.6992.
The state commissioner said the
achievement of Falokun had underscored the need for massive
investment in the education sector which the present state government
has exhibited with the construction of modern public primary schools.
He explained that Tolu, who had already
been awarded scholarship to study law at the Obafemi Awolowo University
Ile-Ife, would enjoy a special financial support from the state
government for as long as she remains in the academic line.
He said, “Apart from the full
scholarship, she will also benefit from the government’s annual
bursaries and scholarships and other packages provided for Law students
both at the university and the Law School by the state government.”
In addition, he said Tolu would be given
N100,000 yearly throughout her university education and that the amount
would be reviewed upward whenever she is ready for her post-graduate
programme.
He added that Tolu scored 290 in the
2011 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination and emerged the second
overall best student in the Post-UTME conducted by the Obafemi Awolowo
University Ile –Ife with 336 marks............
(COME TO THINK OF IT 9 A1 COULD THIS BE TRUE? ANYWAY SHE COULD BE THE DAUGHTER OF MR. BRAIN OF PLANET MERCURY )
...
ELIGIBLE PRESS WISH YOU THE BEST AHEAD
