Wike’s scholarship beneficiary graduates as ABUAD’s best law student

Nengi Donald Jaja, a beneficiary of a Rivers State Government scholarship awarded in 2017 by then Governor Nyesom Wike, has emerged as the overall best graduating student of the College of Law at Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD).

Jaja, who won 12 awards, announced his achievement in a post on X on Saturday, recounting how singing at an event in December 2017 earned him a scholarship that transformed his life.

He said the scholarship was awarded after his performance at a thanksgiving service in Port Harcourt. Tribune reported on December 24, 2017, that the scholarship was worth N40 million and would cover his education from secondary school through university.

Reflecting on the journey, Jaja wrote: “Thanks to the scholarship awarded to me by the Rivers State Government in 2017, I dared to dream, and today, that dream has become a reality.”

He said he was quite young at the time and did not fully understand the magnitude of the opportunity, but it motivated him to pursue academic excellence while nurturing his dream of becoming an R&B and soul artiste.

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According to him, he set a target to graduate as the best Arts student in secondary school and achieved it, alongside winning awards for character and conduct.

He maintained the same drive at university, despite combining his studies with leadership responsibilities.

“Across my ten semesters as an undergraduate, I had eight semesters with a 5.00 GPA, with a 4.96 and 4.87 in the remaining two. Altogether, I graduated with 69 As and 2 Bs,” he disclosed.

Jaja, who emerged as the salutatorian of the College of Law and the first male student to achieve the feat, described the accomplishment as the fulfilment of a promise he made to himself as a child.

He thanked God, his family, friends and lecturers for their support, noting that music by singer Tems helped him maintain his emotional balance throughout his studies.

“What began with a young boy simply singing a song became an opportunity that changed the trajectory of my life,” he said, thanking the Rivers State Government for the scholarship.