COMMENDABLE!!!! Great job. Worth celebrating. But the real test for this sort of results is when this guy is meant to face the ICAN test. We pray for more of this type of news in the future.

Is this result real? Why is it that graduands from private Universities always have this "amazing results"? Is it a compensation to the parents or sponsors for the high fees paid? Why is it that private schools (nursery and primary) do not fail students even if they are visible dull.
Parents should endearvour to "double check the reports sent in by schools" by any means possible.

We have some of the most brilliant people in the world who are Nigerians. we are very sharp and can find a solution to almost any problem. Nigerians are all over the world performing great feats in the sciences especially in medicine and astronomy.

That 4.99 is equivalent to 2.50 of UNAD

In Covenant university, First Class is dished out as pure water. The no of students of that school that make first class is suspicious. I have been at a screening for job test, where almost every candidate from covenant university presented a first class certificate. I remember asking one of them joking how come they all have first class. In this country where students dont read, where learning materials are in short supply, where facilities are not what they should be, a first class in great number from one school is certainly suspicious. I think the owners of that school use first clast as marketing strategy. PERIOD.  NUC should beam its search light in that school.

maxtop:

With all due respect to Mr. Ubong, I am not hating here but i think the score is somehow over exaggerated and absurd, this is because as a student you will have that moment whereby you are down and cant even do anything. The result is completely not achievable, unrealistic.

From what i learned, students in private institutions dont  have carry over when they fail a particular course instead, they "re-sit" that particular course when they school is on break, so what did you expect. Mr. Ubong can be a good student no doubt about that but having accumulate a total cumulative grade point calls for concern.

This is a massive boost for dullards in these schools. In federal schools (e.g. UI), any carry-over inflicts a massive and indelible dent on your CGPA, from which you may never recover. But these private schools gloss over failed courses and encourage students to fail as many times as possible without fear of repercussion (weting be 'summer'? Nonsense). That's why it is almost impossible to find a third-class or pass graduate in most of these bread-and-butter private schools. All the dunces, regardless of the severity of their dimwittedness, manage to graduate with a 'token' of 2.2 at the very minimum. Many others that manage to read at least one line of their text-books a week are guaranteed a 2.1. As for those that demonstrate any semance of diligence in their academics, their 1st class is already in the bag - waiting to be picked up. That wan na school? Lol. Most of their lecturers are products of federal universities and the few that are my friends tell me that they are duty-bound to pass the students, otherwise their positions/salaries may be threatened. I am saying this authoritatively as a semi-insider.

I graduated from the Great UI and I know what it takes to make a 2.1 (never mind 1st class) in a reputable federal university. Most students that graduated with a first class or 2.1 in a federal university - in spite of the punishing environment and innumerable obstacles - can be regarded as having achieved something truly worthwhile. This is certainly not the case with these fly-by-night one-man-business schools.

The unfortunate thing is that the over-pampared teddy bears who graduate from private schools stand a far better channce of gaining employment in nepotism-plagued Nigeria not because of their supposed brilliance or padded grades, but because of their parents' and school authorities' connections and facilitation. It is indeed tragic, but it will only get worse as private universities multiple and gain more foothold.

Mr. 20 year old 4.99 GPA is indeed a brilliant kid - one should not doubt that; but I think he would probably be a 2.1 material in UI or other top-notch federal universities. His so-called 4.99 GPA is watery and should be viewed with disregard for the simple reason of the questionable integrity of its institutional source. Yep, I said that.

proO1:

This is a massive boost for dullards in these schools. In federal schools (e.g. UI), any carry-over inflicts a massive and indelible dent on your CGPA, from which you may never recover. But these private schools gloss over failed courses and encourage students to fail as many times as possible without fear of repercussion (weting be 'summer'? Nonsense). That's why it is almost impossible to find a third-class or pass graduate in most of these bread-and-butter private schools. All the dunces, regardless of the severity of their dimwittedness, manage to graduate with a 'token' of 2.2 at the very minimum. Many others that manage to read at least one line of their text-books a week are guaranteed a 2.1. As for those that demonstrate any semance of diligence in their academics, their 1st class is already in the bag - waiting to be picked up. That wan na school? Lol. Most of their lecturers are products of federal universities and the few that are my friends tell me that they are duty-bound to pass the students, otherwise their positions/salaries may be threatened. I am saying this authoritatively as a semi-insider.

I graduated from the Great UI and I know what it takes to make a 2.1 (never mind 1st class) in a reputable federal university. Most people who makes a first class or 2.1 in a federal university - in spite of the punishing environment and innumerable obstacles - can be regarded of having achieved something truly worthwhile. This is certainly not the case with thesefly-by-night one-man-business schools.

The unfortunate thing is that the over-pampared teddy bears who graduate from private schools stand a far better channce of gaining employment in nepotism-plagued Nigeria not because of their supposed brilliance or padded grades, but because of their parents' and school authorities' connections and facilitation. It is indeed tragic, but it will only get worse as private universities multiple and gain more foothold.

Mr. 20 year old 4.99 GPA is indeed a brilliant kid - one should not doubt that; but I think he would probably be a 2.1 material in UI or other top-notch federal universities. His so-called 4.99 GPA is watery and should be viewed with disregard for the simple reason of the questionable integrity of its institutional source. Yep, I said that.

Gbam 101

congrats, u guys really need to knw d guy cos he's good, some r busy hatin nd yarnin rubbish dey can't even ask how did dis guy did it?
dey r jst busy comparin it wit federal universities, well d good news is dat in a place like CU wat u gt is wat u'l see dats d plain truth nd d lecturers don't do "i didn't get dat kind of score so why shld u?" nd dis is due to different factors, corruption in our education system especially in d universities, where lectures depend on students as deir source of income.

It has made for an interesting thread reading through the preceeding comments

They are insightful, powerful, 'comic-ful' and in some cases persuasive

I personally would not reach any conclusion until i know the number of resident professors and P.hd holders CU has

I would also like to know if the lecturers aint persuaded by the governing council not to be harsh when marking children of God's scripts

I have however taking the liberty to develop a converter that would provide the real value of private universities graduate G.P's.

                                                        P.U.G.P-(X%*P.U.G.P)
                                                     _____________________
 
                                                             1.1


Where: P.G.P means private universities grade point



X% refers to the the discounting percentage based on the quality of the school. In the case of CU, 5% is applicable




1.1 is the denominating factor for all private universities that brings them to the level of federal universities.
1
1.1 percent deflator is justifiable because of possible marketting strategies,

I am yet to reach any conclusion. Until found culpable, this formula shall not be applied.

I'm still asking, how many graduates were produced and how many are first class.

There are idiots on this forum.Who says you should be given birth to by poor parents? leave private University students and face your business.being taught by sadists  in your so called Federal Universites is nobody's business.Does that mean all 1st class grad of private Uni do not merit their grades or cannot compete with their Federal University counterpart? Many Fed uni graduates who criticised the young guy on this forum are trying to console themselves, some were not serious while in school, yet come over here to blame one sadist(professor)as responsible for their poor performance.i believe the school knows the implication before awarding the grade. Federal, state and Private graduates will write same aptitude test and treated equally in the labour market.Poor you if u dont know anybody which worsen your case.With your private Uni 1st class and 2.1, u ve applied to virtually all companies in Nigeria while some Private Uni. students get jobs easily. spending 6 yrs for a 4 year programme even though u are poor. I pity you.

My Own definition of hard work is going through tuff and riguorous times during your year in school and still making good grades out, Private Schools in Nigeria Gives A's to even the lazy one's.however, reading Your Note and Textbooks well is not a certainty of getting an A in a Federal Schools, 4.99 IN CU ,HOLY CRAP!! i will Give him a 4.2 In fed.  Good Work tho',

I hereby apologise on behalf of all private university graduates.

We apologise for schooling in airconditioned halls.

We apologise for an admission process that ensures that you only school with people either from the same social strata or higher.

We apologise for not having lecturers who expect:
[list]
[li]to be worshipped,[/li]
[li]begged with gifts or bodies (women), [/li]
[li]to place lectures at inhuman times of the day to gratify personal sadistic tendencies[/li]
[li]fail you just to maintain some sort of street cred[/li]
[/list]

We apologise for having great labs and studios.

We apologise for having curriculums rethought and reordered to better reflect modern reality.

We apologise for forward looking VCs who partner with business to get us placements, job interviews for final year students.

We apologise for having VCs who are not demigods, VCs with publicly available hotlines who can pick up my call on a Sunday evening to tackle a welfare issue.

We apologise for actually seeing those VCs every week.

We apologise for not being able to fight, stab and kill each other every week for your amusement.

We apologise for mixing religion and academics (yes I detested that too).

Our only plea is that you work hard so you can afford the same education for your kids when the time comes.

bobby.L:

I'm still asking, how many graduates were produced and how many are first class.

20-year-old graduate breaks academic record in CU

The Covenant University, Ota, Ogun State, organised the 6th convocation for 1,263 graduates last Friday. MOTUNRAYO ABODERIN in this report highlights how 20-year-old Mr. Victor Ubong, emerged the all-time best graduate of the university that got its operational license on Febrauary 12, 2002, with a Cumulative Grade Point Average record of 4.99 out of a possible 5.0.


When Mr. Victor Ubong gained admission to Covenant University, Ota, Ogun State, to pursue a degree course in Accounting, nobody knew he would emerge as the best graduating student. This is because as a secondary school pupil, he struggled to pass. He sometimes crammed his notes and when this failed, he resorted to cheating. Even at this, he was just an average pupil, who managed to pass his West African Senior Secondary School Examination in 2007. So, for those who knew him then, it was a surprise that Ubong emerged not just as the best graduating student during the 2011 convocation of the university, but as the all-time best graduate of the institution. He did not only pass out with a first class degree, he did it in style by obtaining a Cumulative Grade Point Average of 4.99 out of a possible 5.0. By this, he has created a new record as the all-time best student to have graduated from the institution, established in 2002.


Ubong was the cynosure of all eyes that attended the ninth convocation of the university last Friday as the auditorium erupted with joy immediately he was called to the podium by the institution’s Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Aize Obayan, to receive the award from the Chancellor, Dr. David Oyedepo. Other graduates rose up waving their mortarboards in celebration of the brainy young man.


Parents and well wishers stood up clapping for the graduate born in Ibom-Ibiono, a village in Akwa Ibom State, 20 years ago. He stood smiling, waving his hand to the crowd in appreciation of their applause.


Narrating his academic journey, Ubong, who completed his secondary school education at Stars International College, Ikorodu, Lagos State, said he never thought he could ever achieve his heart desires without cheating until he came to CU.


“My secondary school days from JSS 2 up to SS2 were days of struggling academically. I was not so brilliant. I did not even know what it meant for people to read and just understand without cramming. You could say I relied on cramming in order to pass my exams. I knew this way of life was not the best, but I didn’t have any choice, and in cases where the cramming did not work, I cheated, I didn’t see anything wrong in cheating. I saw it as a means of survival,” he said.


However, after enrolling at CU in 2007, Ubong said the Christian environment influenced his personality and view towards life. “Immediately I got to CU, I just felt something different about the environment. The thought of cheating just disappeared out of my mind, and finally in 2007 I gave my life to Jesus.


“After my rededication to Jesus, I promised my dad and myself that I would be the best graduating student.”


Speaking with our correspondent after the convocation where 1,263 students were awarded various degrees, out of which 89 had a first class, Ubong said that he actually planned to graduate with a first class degree the very day he gained admission to the institution.


“I never knew that I would set a new record. I owe it all to God. I prayed for it. Making a GPA of 4.99 took a lot of hard work. I kept my eyes on that goal and resisted every distraction, even relationships. I didn’t have any girlfriend throughout my university days. I had to work extra hard whenever we had group assignments because I knew my goals and I was not willing to allow any unserious group member to bring me down,” he said.


Ubong also hinged his performance on the stiff competition he received from his course mates.


“My 100 Level was the most strenuous. I used to study for 18 hours in a day. This was very tasking. However, after some time, I met a group of friends, they were four in number, we then formed a study group which made it easier for us. With the group, I only had to study for three hours. As the Bible says one shall chase a thousand, and two, ten thousand. From that period of synergy up to our final year, we were also scoring a CGPA of 5.0 every semester. Four of us even emerged as the best graduating students in our various departments. I was just so blessed to meet them,”he said.


Asked if he would love to pick up a career in the nation’s university system, he said, “Yes, I intend to become a professor because I am a born teacher. I grew up to love teaching and imparting knowledge to others. My dad is an accountant, I guess that’s where the passion for the profession came from. I also hope to pick up some professional courses to improve my professional knowledge.”


Ubong, who identified corruption as the nation’s major challenge said, “If the problem of corruption is solved, every other problem will be solved because righteousness exalts a nation but sin is a reproach. We need the fear of God in Nigeria. We need to practise what we preach. Nigeria is a country that has the potential to survive on her own, the resources are there, but because of bad governance – leaders who are self-centred, Nigeria has been struggling. But I refuse to give up, I know change is coming to Nigeria, especially with the emergence of our generation. We are the new generation of leaders, capable of restoring the lost dignity. We are the light of Nigeria, and youths must see these in themselves.”


Meanwhile, Ubong, who sees hard work, fear of God, respect for others, punctuality, independence, hatred for mediocrity and simplicity as core virtues, urged undergraduates to be focussed and diligent if they must succeed in their studies.


“They can make it. They just need to be focussed and trust in the Lord with all their hearts and lean not unto their own understanding. In all their ways, they should acknowledge Him and He shall direct their paths. They should also remember that a diligent man will always stand before kings, and not before mean men,” he said.


However, 89 other graduates made first class, 663 obtained second class upper division while the remaining 449 made second class lower.


The chancellor had in his speech congratulated the graduating students and urged them to forge new paths in life to achieve success.


“Go forth and live the Covenant University vision running with our seven core values and making a difference. Remember, a good name is better than silver and gold. Nothing preserves like integrity and nothing dignifies like probity. Capacity may take anyone up, only character can keep him there,” he said.


Oyedepo ended his speech with a known fact that it was essential the graduates stood for something, or else they would fall for anything.

I dont know the specifics of the guy's case but First class simply means you were one of the best students in your institution. Comparisons are useless as you will still have to face the real world.

First class students anywhere(OAU,CU, UI, Bowen, Unilag) are endangered species.

Irrespective of the university they graduated from, they face a world that expects magic from them and like wizards, secretly detests them.

A world prepared to crush them out of spite.

A world that constantly prepares to prove them incompetent.

And for some, their own expectations/perfectionism is even worse than the worst insult.

And in a country where first class engineers work in banks, It can be a curse instead of the red carpet it is meant to be.

Cuddlemii:

U people better not incur the wrath of God. You have nothing to prove that it's false so why criticize the graduate in that manner. I congratulate him any which ways because he must have put in some sort of effort. I don't think Covenant University would want to expose themselves to ridicule cos Oyedepo is a strategic business man who will make sure that the guy is intelligent & worth showing off. He knows ICAN, ACCA & all might want to test the guy's ability. So trust me Oyedepo wears his thinking cap.

As for all of you judging private university & Covenant, please learn to treat people as individuals and not generalizing. There are some dull brains I went to secondary school with who graduated with extremely good grades in the UK. I didn't draw up any conclusion but rejoiced with them because I was uncertain & did not want to make a fool out of myself. Its very possible to become serious in Uni when reality sets in and you get advise from older peers to learn from their mistakes. Excelling in life and productivity in the labour market is about your commitment & individual goals. Its about making yourself the product. The head of my department didn't go to Uni but has several IT certifications but My lord the brain that guy has, he sef knows and shows off. Everyone wants to buy him over too. He is too productive making him indispensable & he is just 28. There is nothing outside IT he doesn't know too.

Stop assuming things. God works in mysterious ways. Maybe the guy was a laughing stock in sch for cheating and he committed his life to God and God has written that he would be great.

Incur God's wrath because we question someone's GPA? Are you ok? It is you who should be careful and not incur God's wrath by bringing him into any nonsense.
All these follow the leader leader sheep who think anything connected to church is untouchable are so pathetic. No wonder they are being led down the path of destruction by the noses. Eeediots.

The guy try sha. Initially reading for 18hrs a day! haba you be silencer(3 idiots), u wan kill urself, you must be on some drugs to do that. OR it fit be lie.
Anyway, methinks the guy would make a first class in any university if he is as hardworking as he claims to be.

A 4.99 GPA appears far-fetched.

Is it possible

I have my reservations.
All the same, all the best.
keep it up

Too much emphasis has been placed on the mathematical possibility of scoring a 4.99 gpa.
In developed countries, scoring a 1st class is not an issue. It's just the backward-thinking mentality of our lecturers that make them delibrately fail students.

I attended a state uni, and the lecturers in the dept were happy to boast that in about 18 years of the dept's existence, no one had finished with a first class. It was even clear that they were not eager to "allow" anyone finish with a 1st anytime soon.

Rather than argue about Fed/State/Pvt university comparisons, I'd submit that all these universities are guilty of not providing the our graduates with the relevant skills to move Nigeria forward.

Like Seyi42K mentioned, how would talent like this be best deployed to advance Nigeria's future?

That, my friends, is the key issue.

However, 89 other graduates made
first class, 663 obtained second class upper division while the remaining 449 made second class lower.

What a jamboree. There were more 2.1's than 2.2s? ? ? ? ? ? And NOBODY finished with a 3rd class or pass  degree in the entire graduating set? To God be the glory. Apparently the 'Holy Spirit' lives there.

This is purely a marketing gimmick and in the process of painting the school as the best in Nigeria, they make the greatest and world class academic blunder ever. 4.99 is not mathematically possible no matter how they did their computation. Because they know it would be unbelievable to say that he score a GPA of 5.00 which would have meant he recorded As throughout all the courses he took. A score of B in any course would have dropped the GPA lower down.

The student in question will have to prove himself in his chosen profession- accountancy. The problem is not the student but the school. Private institutions in Nigeria is making matters worse in the decaying educational sector because of commercial goal.

To private establishment, the best advert is to claim their products are the best in the market. Unfortunately we are talking about human life, the manpower development need of the country and some people thinks they can turn it into manufactured and packaged items.

This is one of the reasons Nigeria is not progressing, we lie a lot. We claim what we are not just to impress but when the chips are down, we are usually no where to be found.

congratulation to the dude. i dont believe in private universities. How come no graduating student came out with 3rd class. They are all cheats

No one is saying it is impossible for CU to produce excellent fine first class grads but that score is questionable for some of us that understands the process of computing a GPA score.

CU is simply overreaching itself in its promotional and publicity drives. An academic environment should shun such publicity claims stunts that can not be validated.

It wont be long before we see students posting a GPA score of 5.00 and not being capable of defending same. We have seen many instances where many such acclaimed extraordinaire grads fail a job written interview or disappoint in postgrads test, GMAT and GRE tests.

P.U.G.P-(X%*P.U.G.P)
                                                    _____________________
 
                                                            1.1


Where: P.U.G.P means private universities grade point



X% refers to the the discounting percentage based on the quality of the school. In the case of CU, 5% is applicable

The above formulae produce 4.31 in a federal university. Good result. Strong 2.1

Let him register for ICAN or ACCA immediately, if he passes in the first trys, I will finally doff my cap for him. But seriously, I know he couldn't have cheated his way out in CU! They are too disciplined! Standard won high gaan ke gbabeee

Most inspiring story I've read in a while. One to share with any struggling student i know.

In Nigeria, what could have been the reason for a single private university to produce more first class graduates in a single convocation than seven federal universities combine together? After all, private uni undergraduates are usually students rejected by Fed Universities. But this one with 4.99 CGPA is a fraud, scam and embarrassment to Nigerian academic environment unless @poster actually meant 4.99 GPA. This is not a case of Ben Carson from the dullard to brilliant student, but we're talking about a "cheater" in the Sec Sch with no time interval when left sec sch and entered Uni to improve himself.

Let him register for ICAN or ACCA immediately, if he passes in the first trys, I will finally doff my cap for him. But seriously, I know he couldn't have cheated his way out in CU! They are too disciplined! Standard won high gaan ke gbabeee

Aunty, a cheater is always a cheater. it is either the teachers are taking bribe or are afraid of that chap that i saw in daily news. Mind you, CU is 21st century of cults breeding university among the private universities in Nigeria. You have to be naturally good from nursery-primary-secondary-university to make first class. First class suddenly!?. It is like your next neighbor that has no job, suddenly start riding brand new range-rover, it is either such neighbor committed ritual or he's a daring armed robber.
All these private universities should be scrapped. Why is it that children of today cant struggle to enter federal universities that is cheaper, better equipped and you will have the sense of passing through university education.

Baba_O:

Aunty, a cheater is always a cheater. it is either the teachers are taking bribe or are afraid of that chap that i saw in daily news. Mind you, CU is 21st century of cults breeding university among the private universities in Nigeria. You have to be naturally good from nursery-primary-secondary-university to make first class. First class suddenly!?. It is like your next neighbor that has no job, suddenly start riding brand new range-rover, it is either such neighbor committed ritual or he's a daring armed robber.
All these private universities should be scrapped. Why is it that children of today cant struggle to enter federal universities that is cheaper, better equipped and you will have the sense of passing through university education.

Thats totally a lie. Its perfectly possible for you to be distracted while still in secondary and then becoming awesome in university simply because the course fits your person.

example, I have been reading about computers since age 11 and learnt C and VB at 17/18 so it was child's play passing the programming courses in school. I read less and that would have been the case in ANY school i might have attended.

Dont let your jealousy overshadow the fact that there are highly intelligent people who attend CU and the rest because they just cant see themselves attending a federal institution.

You are totally wrong and dubious to have mentioned MEND in the same vein with the Boko haram terrorists
MEND as an organisation had very genuine and germaine reasons for their agitations,on the contrary,all I see in BH is double-speak,hypocrisy and confusion.Speaking of which,could you please tell me what really it is they're agitating for

Like I wrote earlier,if it is for them to have a sharia nation,I think a referendum should be conducted in those northern states to ascertain if that is the overwhelming wish of the people;why should you deny a people their collective wish??This is the only scenario that will make MEND and MASSOB to be compared to Boko Haram;in the sense that one would now safely conclude that they're all seperatist/autonomy-seeking movements in that whilst MASSOB seeks a nation state of their own for the Ibos,Boko haram would be seeking a sharia-compliant muslim country and MEND seeks a country of their own where their oil wealth will be used in developing their own region(which would've become a sovereign nation by that permutation)

There are many dimensions to these whole thing but i will talk on only 1 which is the method of computation of Cumulative Grade Point Average.

The way universities compute their CGPA these days in Nigeria leaves a very bad taste in the mouth. Some of them do not permit you to fail a course so if you get F in first semester Yr 1 and do it again in first semester Yr 2 and get an A they will replace the F in first semester Yr 1. What is in vogue now is to churn out more first classes lets say out of 5000 you can get 20 and then brag that your university is the best because you have 20 first class that Ife, Ibadan or Zaria are not in your class but we know better.

When companies do their job tests many of these wonderful first classes cannot pass and if you waive it for them to go straight to interview stages they still cannot perform. The decay in Nigeria is going to catch up with us in the long run; its not like foreign universities are so much better. A colleague of mine came for his project work here from the UK and the whole thing was just shambolic to say the least.

The way to correct all these BOLLOCKS is to subject all graduates to an aptitude test and if you pass then do an interview and see how they perform. You will be amazed at what you see.

Caution should be taken in interpreting this o! Many things happen and the report said that this guy was cramming and cheating in secondary school, so any sin thing could have happened. Lets wait for him to go out and prove it!