Chief Innocent Chukwuma, the founder of Innoson Motors has revealed what he would do on the awarded N3 million scholarship he gave to one Mmesoma Ejikeme as the highest scorer in the 2023 UTME, only to discover her results were fake.
Wakadaily reports that the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) said it will prosecute Ejikeme Mmesoma for manipulating her result from 249 to 362 and parading herself as the top scorer for the 2023 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).
After her result went viral on social media, Innoson was among those who gifted her to encourage education. He, awarded her a 3 million naira university scholarship, a money he immediately paid into a dedicated account.
However, reacting to a recent statement issued by the Spokesman of JAMB, Fabians Benjamin, who declared Mmesoma’s 362 UTME score as fake. Innocent Chukwuma described the revelation as very unfortunate.
He said, “When I was told that a student of a public school recorded the highest score in the JAMB examination, I sent for the principal of the school and the principal confirmed to me that it was true that the girl scored the mark.
“I said to myself that such a brilliant girl if properly educated will be beneficial to our country and the world at large, so I decided to award her scholarship so that nothing will stop her from attaining a University education.
“When awarded her the scholarship, I deposited ₦3,000,000 in a dedicated bank account and told the principal that the money is strictly meant for Mmesoma’s education in the university; that any time she needs to pay any fee in the school, they will let me know so that I will sign for withdrawal of money from the account. I made the arrangement so that nobody, including the girl’s parents can divert the money to another thing,” Chief Chukwuma stated.
On what he would do next about the scholarship he awarded to Mmesoma, he said: “The little girl I saw looked so innocent that I can’t believe that she can manipulate her score.
“If I find out that she deliberately faked her result, I will cancel the scholarship because I can’t encourage a criminal; such person cannot be useful to the society.
“But if I find out that she didn’t have a hand in the manipulation; that the score was given to her in error or that someone manipulated the result for her without her knowing, I will not cancel the scholarship. So, I will make inquiry to find out what actually happened.
“I didn’t know the girl before. I heard that she hails from Enugu State but studied in a public school in Anambra State, so my interest is to make sure that I support her to realize her potential in education and be useful to our nation, that is all. And to encourage other younger ones to take their education very seriously.”
