A pure water seller, Ugwu Augustus, has reportedly secured a full scholarship into the university after scoring 309 in the 2024 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination.

According to Alex Onyia, the founder of Educare, an organisation that prepares candidates for UTME, Augustus left school two years ago.

However, he was challenged to join the preparatory class and score above 300 to get a full scholarship.

“This youngster from my village, Ugwu Chibuzo Augustus, scored 309 in JAMB.

“He left school two years ago and has been selling pure water in the streets. We convinced him to join the JAMB prep programme with a promise that he would get a scholarship if he scored above 300,” Onyia shared on social media on Sunday.

Determined, Augustus picked up the challenge and began attending classes while still hawking his pure water after classes.

His handwork was rewarded when UTME results were released and he had an aggregate score of 309.

“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 programme.

“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’ story is one of the several success stories of this year’s UTME despite the poor overall numbers 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.

Just like Augustus, 15-year-old, Olukayode Olusola, caught the attention of many as he reportedly scored 95 marks in Mathematics.

The student of Government Secondary School, Omu Aran, Kwara State, scored a total of 362 marks, making him one of the top contenders for the highest scores in the examination.

A breakdown of his results showed that Olusola scored 95 marks each in Mathematics, Physics, and Chemistry and 77 in the English Language.

He hopes to study Electrical Electronics at the University of Ilorin, Kwara State.