Eleven universities in Nigeria have been selected for the annual award to promote academic excellence.

A statement by the Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) this morning in Lagos named the beneficiary institutions as Ambrose Alli University, Edo State; Delta State University; University of Jos, Plateau State; University of Lagos; University of Benin, Edo State; Usman Danfodio University, Sokoto State; University of Port Harcourt, Rivers State; University of Maiduguri, Borno State; University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Enugu State; and Benue State University.

The annual prizes will recognise and honour top-performing students at these select Nigerian universities who are completing degrees related to the academic and career paths of Mr. Tony O. Elumelu, MFR, Founder of The Tony Elumelu Foundation, and his wife, Dr. Awele V. Elumelu, CEO of Avon Medical Services Ltd. and fellow Trustee of The Tony Elumelu Foundation.

On the selection process, TEF said: “The schools were drawn from the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria based on the particular influences the schools themselves, or the geographies of the institutions, contributed to Mr. and Dr. (Mrs.) Elumelu’s development and careers.The University of Jos is located in the birthplace of Mr. Elumelu; Ambrose Alli University and the University of Lagos are the institutions where he received his Bachelor of Science and Master’s degrees in Economics. His wife, Dr. Elumelu, graduated from the University of Benin with an MBBS in Medicine.Delta State University is located in Mr. Elumelu’s state of origin, while he completed his one-year mandatory National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) programme in Sokoto state, where Usman Danfodio University is located.

“The University of Port Harcourt is situated in the city where Mr. Elumelu was first recognised for excellence in his banking career, and it is also the hometown of Chief Ferdinand Alabraba who was chairman of both STB and UBA. The University of Maiduguri is located in the hometown of retired Brig. Abba Kyari, who was the pioneering chairman of Standard Trust Bank (STB).Finally, the University of Nigeria and Benue State University both awarded Mr. Elumelu honourary doctorates in business administration (DBA).”

Continuing, the statement said: “Three outstanding University of Jos students received prizes during the school’s convocation ceremony on May 12. The selection of the University of Jos as the institution at which to kick off the prize was particularly poignant as Mr. Elumelu and Dr. Wiebe K. Boer, the CEO of The Tony Elumelu Foundation, were both born in Jos. The students are 22-year-old Obianuju Ifeoma Okpara, an Economics undergraduate student who finished top of her class; Joel Nanbal Zuhumben, 31, best postgraduate student in Economics; and Francis Ifeanyi Ayomogh, top undergraduate medical student.”

Transport & Business Express reports that as part of the prize programme, TEF has also established a new annual professional prize to be awarded to the best student in the ‘Practice of Banking’ subject in the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria professional examinations. This prize demonstrates Mr. Elumelu's support for his profession, especially in encouraging and equipping upcoming bankers to be the drivers of Nigeria's economy. The prize also complements efforts by the Institute to professionalise banking.This year’s prize went to Mrs. Bolawa Funlola Adenuga, a banker who had the highest score in her first and only sitting of the examination, during the Institute’s awards ceremony which held on July 7 in Lagos.