A brilliant Nigerian man named Emmanuel Ozeigbe emerged as the valedictoroan of the University of Ibadan, Nigeria and was awarded a full scholarshgup to study for his masters degree in France.
Emmanuel obtained a Bachelor of Agriculture degree with first class grade of 3.93 over 4.00 cumulative grade point at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria. His outstanding achievement earned him the valedictorian award of the unibvesity’s 2023 graduating class.
He took to his Linkedin to celebrate his achievement sharing that he could not receive his award as he had already travelled out of Nigeria to start his masters program through the Erasmus Mundus Master Program in Plant Breeding.
Erasmus Mundus Masters Scholarships are prestigious international opportunities, designed and funded by the European Union, and delivered by a group of higher education institutions.
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The Scholarships are funded to cover the costs of candidates’ tuition, accommodation, and travel costs to and from his/her country. Additionally, a stipend of €1500 is provided for every selected applicant as a provision for the coverage of living allowance. Read more about the European Scholarship HERE.
Emmanuel stated that becoming the valedictorian was a dream come true for him and he thought about missing his exams to attend the convocation ceremony back in Nigeria but after he explained his situation to the school, he was allowed to give a prerecorded speech.
” I was announced, publicly, as the Valedictorian for the University of Ibadan, Nigeria, to give a speech on behalf of the 6,000+ graduands. And there I was on that massive HD screen before the crowd, pouring out my heart to my colleagues,” he said.
Emannuel mentioned that the school registrar told him that he is the first in the University of Ibadan’s 75-year history to give a recorded speech. He thanked his department officials for convincing the school authorities, making his dream come true.
Talking about how he earned the scholarship, Emmnanel said he had initially won the Erasmus Mundus Plant Health Scholarship in 2022 when he was in his penultimate year but he had to forfeit the scholarship due to the challenges of timing and a university strike.
He said despite all his efforts to defer the scholarship, it did not work out. Emmanuel stated that he was worried that he might not get another opportunity as he applied for two of the scholarships for fun before he was awarded one of them.
”You can very much guess I had sleepless nights upon nights as I wondered, “Will I ever win another scholarship? What if this was just pure luck,” he said.
Not giving up, Emannuel applied in 2023 for the Erasmus Scholarship in Plant breeding which was his dream scholarship with much hope even though he was uncertain. Fortunately, he was awarded the scholarship and was the only Nigerian in his cohort.
Emanneul was awarded the Erasmus Mundus Master Program in Plant Breeding (emPLANT+) to study for an Engineering Master’s Degree in Agronomy and Agro-Industry at UniLaSalle( University of Stavanger) in Beauvais, France.Â
He said he is grateful to everyone who made the journey possible, his mentor, colleagues, family, and those who prepared him for his interview. Emmanuel said he hopes his story inspires someone out there to keep pushing for the best and to never underestimate themselves because dreams do come true.
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