Wukeh Egem-Odey, The 19 Year-Old Business Man and Fashionista That Emerged 2012 Best Graduating Student, Covenant University.

   

As he, read out his valedictory speech, the crowd could not help but cheer him as he beat 1,338 other graduating students of CU. He scored a CGPA of 4.89 out of a possible 5.0 to bag a first class degree in accountancy.

I did not interview him, but read different interviews of him from different sources and I am simply humbled, he is indeed a bundled of wisdom with his priorities right and knows how to have fun without getting into trouble. Above all, he concluded that he owes everything to God who has granted him the grace to top of this graduating set. Meet Wukeh as he tells his story.

My name is Wukeh Egem-Odey, from Cross-River State, the third of my parents’ five children, I attended Loyola Jesuit College, but I was never at the top of my class, I was an average student among the brightest students and I was very playful at that time, did not know the essence of education till later on in SS3, thank God it wasn’t too late. I turned 10 in JSS1 and 16 in 100level, I grew with a slogan that says: ages is just statistics, you are as old as your mind tell you. My graduating at the age of 19 is mainly God’s speed and my parents’ belief; they never saw us as small, they belief once you can stand it, just keep going.  I have always been one of the youngest students in my class all through my years in school and it did affect my performance in secondary school. I was not matured at that time and saw life as playful as it was in primary school, it took me time to find my footing and there were times I was shy about my age. But as I entered the University, my self-confidence was no longer an issue, people would not even believe I am 19, I look, behave and talk like I’m older.

My parents and my older siblings ensured that I did not make the mistakes a lot of my peers made. I never played video games, I never did a lot of what my peers did even though I wanted to, but I did not find myself doing them. I always tried to act my class and not my age and that did help my performance in the university and my self-confidence. I knew the University is a different ball game entirely for reasons I figured out later, so, I was more serious, knew my left from my right and knew what was important. I stayed fly, I was known as a Fashionista, but I had that serious look a times, but the “swag” was always fake. The most amazing part of it all is how I combined it all with starting business, but I’ll answer in 3letters: GOD.

When I got into CU, I had the determination to excel, but I was not so interested in being the best; I just wanted to get to school, have impact on many lives, excel in my studies and make a difference. “I saw the need to make people succeed in life as being more important than anything else. I did not know I would be the best, but I knew I would not be just good or average, I knew I would be great and I ensured I was close to God all through. I know most people would expect me to be unsocial or a nerd, but, I am opposite. Remember, I was playful, so, I would be difficult to leave they play, I had figure out how to fit my play into my books without suffering my books. I was the captain of my basketball team, did a lot of fashion designing and modeling and still hung out with friends, but I never had any official girlfriend in school, even though I was friends with a couple of girls. I tried as much as possible to maintain his chastity; I made a vow to my mum that I would not have a girlfriend.”

” Throughout my four years in university, I battled with a series of health challenges, nobody considered me for this award because I was always sick and on drugs, my mum brought me drugs every month. That I’m alive today is God’s grace.

Vice Chancellor of CU, Wukeh and his mum.

I studied accounting because it is the language of business. I love investments; in fact, I started business off with investments in other businesses, then took the bold step to partake in an annual trade fair. I had always been a customer, but this year, I chose to be on the other side. I sold bread, plantain, egg and indomine, did this with some other people and made a huge profit. Some people laughed at me, but it is foolishness to be shameful of what is gainful. Then, I saw that money is actually easy to make, all you need to do is to create channels to wealth and start small. I have wonderful business partners and we have made hundreds of thousands together. I have made money doing business and also lost money too, but God has been my strength all the way. I just became a partner to two companies, UPGRADE and BINAZONE; watch out, we will soon be on the stock market. I am currently a bronze distributor on Avenue to wealth and hope to rise to platinum soon. Also, I am an Assistant Supervisor in Forever Living Products.

I am considering a career in forensic accounting and also take certification examination in relevant fields, get chartered, get a masters and even a PhD by the grace of God and also, I hope to have professional knowledge in an area that will be directly relevant to Nigeria.