A 16-year-old student, Sodiq Shoyode, who recently scored an outstanding 360 in the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), has been awarded a full scholarship for his university education.

The scholarship award was announced by Kamorudeen Yusuf, Personal Assistant on Special Duties to President Bola Tinubu. Alongside the scholarship, Shoyode will also receive a laptop and other educational materials to support his studies.

Shoyode, a native of Ado-Odo Local Government Area in Ogun State, became an online sensation after his exceptional UTME result surfaced on social media, drawing accolades from across the country for his academic brilliance despite his modest background.

According to a statement issued on Monday, Yusuf, moved by the teenager’s remarkable performance and determination, reached out to the Shoyode family and pledged to support the young scholar’s educational journey.

“As part of his commitment, the presidential aide will provide a laptop for Sodiq’s training at a leading digital academy in Lagos, in addition to sponsoring his university education,” the statement read.

In an interview, Shoyode revealed that he had set the ambitious target of scoring above 360 in the UTME since his days in Senior Secondary School 1 (SS1) and worked consistently to achieve it.

“I have always had the goal of scoring 360 and above in JAMB since I was in SS1, and I’m glad I was able to achieve my goal,” he said.

“I did a lot of practice tests and monitored my progress weekly to identify areas that needed improvement,” he added.

Meanwhile, in a separate development, a group of aggrieved parents staged a protest at the Lagos office of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), expressing outrage over what they described as unusually low scores recorded by their children in the recent UTME.

This follows JAMB’s report last week, which disclosed that over 70% of candidates scored below 200 out of the possible 400 marks—a revelation that has triggered widespread concern among candidates and their families.

The protesting parents are calling for an immediate review of the released results, raising questions over the credibility of the scoring process.
They argued that the drastic drop in performance does not reflect their children’s academic abilities.

LAGOS EYE NEWS reports that the controversy over the UTME results continues to fuel debates across the country, even as some candidates like Shoyode shine against the odds.