Seven outstanding candidates who recorded exceptional academic performance during the 2025 admission exercise will be honoured by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), in partnership with Rite Foods Limited.
The recognition will take place at the maiden Academic Excellence Recognition Award Ceremony scheduled for Tuesday, June 30, 2026, in Lagos.
JAMB’s spokesperson, Dr. Fabian Benjamin said “the initiative is aimed at promoting academic excellence, rewarding merit and encouraging young Nigerians to strive for high educational achievement.”
According to him, “the awards reflect the shared commitment of JAMB and Rite Foods Limited to recognising exceptional performance and fostering a culture of excellence in education.”
Motivation
The initiative is expected to motivate students to pursue academic distinction while reinforcing the importance of merit-based recognition in Nigeria’s education sector.
Dr Benjamin said; “At the ceremony, each of the seven award recipients will receive ₦5 million in recognition of their exceptional performance in both the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) and the respective Post-UTME or institutional screening exercises conducted by their admitting Universities.”
According to him, the seven awardees emerged through a rigorous, transparent and merit-based selection process coordinated by JAMB. Six winners represent the six geopolitical zones of the country, while the seventh award recognises the highest-performing admitted candidate living with a disability.
The institutions winning candidates are:
- Â University of Lagos (South-West Zonal Winner)
- University of Uyo (South-South Zonal Winner)
- Federal University of Technology, Owerri (South-East Zonal Winner
- Federal University of Applied Sciences, Kachia (North-West Zonal Winner)
- University of Maiduguri (North-East Zonal Winner)
- Federal University of Technology, Minna (North-Central Zonal Winner); and the recipient of the award for Candidate Living with Disability also came from the University of Lagos.
He said the University of Lagos stands out as the only institution producing two award recipients at this maiden edition.
The ceremony is expected to attract over 300 distinguished guests from across Nigeria’s education sector, government, academia and the corporate community.
Expected dignitaries include; the Minister of Education, the Registrar of JAMB, Prof. Is-haq Oloyede, Vice Chancellors of the award-winning candidates’ universities, Vice Chancellors of universities in Lagos State, Executive Secretaries and Chief Executives of key regulatory agencies including the National Universities Commission (NUC), the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), the National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE), as well as principal officers of tertiary institutions, education stakeholders, development partners, corporate leaders, students and members of the media.
