Teslim Ibrahim, 16, of Himma International College, Minna was one of the best performers in the last Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) with overall score of 312.
He got 73 in English, 80 in Physics, 71 in Biology and Chemistry, 88. He also got A1 in eight subjects including English language, mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, computer stugotdies, agricultural science and civic education with a B2 in marketing in his WAEC examination.
The lad who was celebrated by the school management at a special event which also coincided with its 30th years anniversary recently said he wants to serve humanity through the medical profession.
He explained that his motivation for wanting to study medicine stems from concerns over the low ratio of Doctors to patients in Nigeria. “Presently, the ratio of medical Doctors to patients is 1:600; that is roughly 600 patients are allocated to one Doctor. This is a sad development as this few can hardly cater for the growing number of patients in our hospitals,” he noted. He said he also chose to read medicine because its a unique course.
The boy’s father, Alhaji Ibrahim Sefiu Olayemi, a staff of the National Examination Council (NECO), headquarters in Minna said he was not surprised by the boy’s performance because of his previous feats but rather delighted. “His performance was as a result of his hard work, prayers, the conducive environment and facilities provided by both the school authority and parents as well as quality efforts of the teachers,” he explained. According to him, he never decided the son’s choice of medicine as a profession but rather counsel him on the options available to him as a science student. The school’s proprietess, Hajiya Hadiza Yahaya said the performance by the 2019 set in both JAMB and WAEC was the best in the history of the school, adding that out of the 78 graduating students for the session, the lowest scores in JAMB were 163 and 168, with the second highest been 283. She said the management provided the enabling environment for teaching and learning, adding that the school has always emphasized on training and character development.