A brilliant Nigerian lady identified as Precious Okon has emerged as the best-graduating student of Nile University Abuja and won a 100 per cent scholarship to study up to PhD level.
Precious graduated from Petroleum and Gas Engineering with a perfect cumulative grade point average (CGPA) of 5.0/5.0.
Narrating her experience at Nile University to The Punch, Precious said, “I would say it was interesting and expository. I got to meet several people from different cultural and religious backgrounds. It was a new experience for me. It would be my first extended stay in Abuja, and I did not exactly know what to expect.
“Coming from the southern part of Nigeria, there were preconceived notions about what the North was like. So, being there and seeing it for myself helped to break a lot of wrong ideologies and helped me build amazing friendships. I also liked the environment; it was very serene since there were not many in the university at the time, though that has changed over the years. We have a lot more students now, and I think that is a testament to the fact that the university is getting some things right.”
Precious was involved in volunteer roles and extracurricular activities while in school, which did not affect her academics.
“While at Nile University, I took up a lot of volunteering roles from my first year to my final year. They include, but are not limited to, being an Energy4Me Ambassador with the Society of Petroleum Engineers International, serving as the President of the SPE Nile University Chapter and the Nile Christian Fellowship in my penultimate and final years, and also volunteering actively in different capacities with the SPE Abuja Section 199,” she wrote on her LinkedIn page.
“Serving as the President of SPE Nile Chapter, I was able to achieve so much with my team: from planting 100 trees to commemorate Earth Day to starting the Mental Health Awareness Series and Skills Development Series, and eventually winning the Student Chapter Excellence Award in 2022, the second highest award given to any student chapter in the world. I also received the Girl in STEM Leadership Award in 2021 from the Women’s Leadership Programme under the SPE Nigeria Council,” she added.
When asked about the awards and prizes she received from Nile University for her 5.0 success,
She said, “I received a 100 per cent scholarship to continue my education up to the PhD level at Nile University. Then I received a lot of plaques from the university as the best graduating student in my department and in my faculty. I also received the Distinguished Franklin Uchechukwu Okeke Merit Award for finishing with a 5.0. I also received some prizes from sponsors, such as China Harbour Engineering Company Limited, Allison Rich, Red Bull, and Mouka Foam. I am grateful to them all.”
She thanked Almighty God for the huge success and appreciated her lecturers in the Department of Petroleum and Gas Engineering and the Faculty of Engineering.
