12th November, 2019
By Gbenro Adesina
Miss Mary Ebhomielen Ofure of the Department of Computer Science, Faculty of Science headlined the 2019 University of Ibadan convocation ceremony today, as she was presented as the best graduating student.
She made first class with a perfect score, posting the highest Cumulative Grade Point Average, CGPA of 7.0.
Ebhomielen received a thunderous ovation when she was presented to parents and well-wishers at the ceremony.
On Facebook, she says she hails from Uromi, in Edo State and attended Louisville Girls School. She did not indicate whether it was the Louisville in Itele Ogun state or the Louisville Secondary School in Abuja.
Her proud parents are Emma and Helen Ebhomielen. Emma used to work for NIGERIAN BAG MANUFACTURING COMPANY, PLC LAGOS NIGERIA(BAGCO), but now runs a consulting business in Lagos.
For her peerless feat, she had a special handshake with the Vice Chancellor, Professor Abel Idowu Olayinka, who could not hide his admiration for the academic star.
Olayinka said: “Ofure Mary Ebhomielen is the fourth person ever to have obtained perfect Cummulative Grade Point Average (7.0 out of 7.0) in the 71-year history of the University of Ibadan. And the first female. This is worth celebrating and we are indeed very proud of her. The world is now under your feet, Mary. Aim for the skies while we keep celebrating you”
In her brief speech, intermittently interrupted by applause, Mary, who congratulated her fellow graduands, noted that they were being celebrated for burning the night candles.
She said success did not come easy, adding that apart from making a good grade in the university, one still needed to prove himself or herself in the outside world.
Ebhomielen called on those who did not make upper division to go out there and prove their worth.
Ebhomielen may be the one of the last first class graduate of the premier university to have a CPGA of 7.0.
This is because, the university several years ago, changed its grading system to align with the system in other Nigerian universities and in line with international best practices.
The university from the 2016/17 session changed to 4.0 CGPA scale. This will affect students admitted to the university during the session and it means that students in 300 Level now will not be graded on CPGA 7.0.