A 17-year-old candidate in the just concluded Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, Patrick Delight, has been celebrated for scoring 339.

The son of a retired teacher father and a mother who still teaches at the Lagos State Model College, Meiran , Lagos, was honoured on Friday at Adams College, Ajao Estate, Lagos, alongside 14 other candidates who scored above 300 in the UTME.

Others include Yusuf Kehinde, 305; Yusuf Taiwo, 307; Deola Adejumo, 309; Aina Testimony, 311; Grace Agbokeye, 310; Ekpon Jessica, 311; and Sanusi Mubarak, 314.

According to the founder of the college, Mr. Adams Adebola, the decision to honour the candidates was to encourage other students to aspire for excellence. He added that scholarship would be offered to the students.

He said, “This is a tutorial centre established to mentor and give the students intensive knowledge prior to their examination. The oldest of these achievers is 17 years. The country has a way of celebrating dancers and musicians and we just want to commend them in our own way. Many of our students matriculated at the University of Lagos in 2016 and some of our past students are now excelling in their fields.

“We invited our former students to present the awards in order to tell current ones that excellence doesn’t stop at having the highest score in the UTME but also excelling even in the higher institutions as they progress in life.’’

In his remarks, Delight said that he owned his success to persistence and hard work.

Punchng