Sixteen-year-old Miss Irene Ekpoawan Edem has emerged the highest scorer in the 2009 Universities Matriculation Examination (UME), with 310 out of the 400 marks obtainable.
The native of Cross River State applied to study Communications with Options’ at the ABTI-American University of Nigeria, Yola.
Three other candidates, who, coincidentally all made the University of Lagos (UNILAG) their first choices, came bracket second with 308 marks. They are Obukohwo Friday Igugu, 23, Konye Henrietta Odinde, 18 and perhaps the oldest, Raymond Kuroyefa Moses-Gombo, 47. They applied to study Industrial Relations and Personnel Management, Economics and History and Diplomatic Studies, respectively.
The candidates topped the list of the best 15 in the examination, released in Abuja yesterday by the JAMB Registrar, Professor Dibu Ojerinde, who disclosed that the full results were now available online.
It was, however, noteworthy that none of the top 15, whose marks ranged between 298 and 310 applied to study the sciences. Three candidates each applied to study Communication, Economics, and History.
While Law, Accounting, Industrial Relations, Urban and Regional Planning, etc. had a candidate each.
Ojerinde said out of the 1, 182, 381 candidates, who applied to sit for the UME , 1,145, 961 or 96.92 per cent of them actually sat for the examination. 65 of them were visually impaired (out of the 71 who registered). 13 were inmates of Ikoyi Prisons and 33 of Kaduna Prisons, all of whom would have completed their terms by the next admission exercise.
A total of 199 candidates sat for the examination in five centres outside the country.
The six states with the highest number of applicants were Imo. Anambra, Delta, Edo, Ogun and Osun, in that order, while the six with the lowest number, in descending order were Gombe, Sokoto, Taraba, Kebbi, Zamfara and Yobe.
The Registrar said 548, 543 candidates scored 200 marks and above.
Another 14, 847 scored between 190 and 199; 150, 541 fell between 180 and 189 marks; 128, 063, were between 170 and 179; another 95, 055 scored between 160 and 169 marks, while 72, 196 scored less than 160 marks.
In all, Social Sciences accounted for 275, 208 or 23.28 per cent of the candidates, followed by Administration with 179, 056 (15.15 per cent), Medicine, 177, 715 (15.03 per cent); Engineering, 152, 051 (12.86); Sciences, 139, 129 (11.77 per cent) and Arts/Humanities, 83.009 (7.02 percent). Others are Law, 75, 244 (6.37 per cent); Education, 44, 346 (3.75 per cent); Environmental Studies, 22, 358 (1.89 per cent); Pharmacy, 20, 857 (1.77 per cent) and Agriculture, 13, 408 (1.14 per cent).
Last year, Social Sciences also accounted for the highest number of 249, 928 or 23.71 per cent of the candidates, followed by the Medical Sciences, 184, 210 (17.48 per cent); Administration, 160, 466 (15.22 per cent); Engineering, 157, 460 (14.94 per cent) and Sciences, 117, 905 (11.19 per cent).
Others were, Law, 68, 434 (6.49 per cent); Arts, 67, 851 (6.44 per cent); Education, 36, 590 (3.47 per cent) and Agriculture, 11, 216 (1.06 per cent).
