Governor Soludo Rewards COOU Best Graduating Student With ₦4 Million Cash Prize and Full Scholarship Package

The Visitor to Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University COOU and Governor of Anambra State Prof Charles Chukwuma Soludo has honoured the university’s best graduating student with a ₦4 million cash prize alongside a range of academic and career incentives following an outstanding academic performance.

The recipient Umeh Augustus Somtochukwu a First Class graduate of the Department of Economics in the 2025 2026 academic session emerged as both the best graduating student in his department and the overall best graduating student of the university with a cumulative grade point average CGPA of 4.85.

The recognition took place during the university’s convocation ceremony held on Saturday April 26 2026 at the ETF Auditorium Igbariam Campus.

In addition to the cash award Governor Soludo announced a guaranteed employment opportunity for the graduate as well as a fully funded scholarship to pursue postgraduate studies up to PhD level in any public university of his choice.

The Governor who reflected on his personal academic journey noted a symbolic connection to the achievement recalling that he also graduated with First Class honours as the best student in Economics during his university years.

Beyond the ₦4 million cash reward the overall financial and academic support extended to the graduate amounted to approximately ₦7 million in total awards during the ceremony.

The achievement was widely celebrated within the university community as a demonstration of academic excellence and institutional impact. It also drew attention to the university’s ongoing academic reform agenda which emphasizes values viability and visibility as core pillars of student development.

In his valedictory reflections the graduate attributed his success to discipline consistency and a deliberate commitment to academic excellence noting that he chose to remain focused on Economics despite initial low student interest in the programme.

His performance has been described within the university as a strong example of purposeful academic engagement and a validation of sustained effort in achieving distinction at the highest level.

The university community congratulated the graduate while acknowledging the support of the Visitor to the institution for recognizing and rewarding academic excellence at such a high level.