Prof Ibe broke the cheering news on the heels of the announcement by the Registrar of Joint Admission ami Matriculation Board (JAMB), Prof Ishaq Oloyede, that two students of Abia state origin, Fraklin Ekene and Igban Emmanuel Chidiebube, came out tops in the recently released result of the examination by scoring 347 and 346 marks respectively.
Reacting to the news that the two brilliant students who are said to be 15 and 16 years, may not be accepted for admission in their respective universities of first choice. Prof Ibe decried “the negative attitude of unwittingly slowing down the academic progress of intellectually endowed children”. He therefore enjoined stakeholders of the Nigerian education sector to ensure the immediate removal of all age induced stumbling blocks placed on the way of specially gifted children, as a way of guaranteeing their speedy training and subsequent early emergence in the global world of work. He argued that it is the global practice to encourage gifted children to undertake education in their prime, leading to the recent graduation of Miss Simiat Abimbola Owo-Alade in Medical Sciences in far away India at the age of 23 after being rejected by Nigerian universities.
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The Chancellor therefore enjoined the parents of the gifted Abia children to take steps by commencing early registration of their wards in any programme of their choice at the university.
It will be recalled that Prof Ibe has been in the forefront of encouraging gifted children through the award of scholarships and sponsorship of talent discovery programmes on national television.
