November 10, 2021

Imo state-born Miss Uzoaku Amadi has emerged Overall Best Graduating Student at the 18^th oath-taking ceremony of the University of Uyo medical graduates. She won 14 Awards and got a commendation letter from the Provost, College of Health Sciences of the university.

Uzoaku who is the fifth child of the parents was born preterm (born prematurely) and had to suffer bouts of ailments at infancy, but she shrugged them to become a genius whose quest for knowledge took her to the arts, music and linguistics, among others.

Her sister, Kelechi Ihunanya Amadi, described her as a goddess of sciences.

Below is the score-card of the genius described by her family members as “always a winner.”

1. Best in ANATOMY
2. Best in PHYSIOLOGY
3. Best in BIOCHEMISTRY
4. Best in LABORATORY MEDICINE
5. Best in PHARMACOLOGY
6. Best in PAEDIATRICS
7. Best in OBSTETRICS & GYNAECOLOGY
8. Best in INTERNAL MEDICINE
9. Best in SURGERY
10. Best in FAMILY MEDICINE
11. Best in COMMUNITY MEDICINE
12. Best FEMALE GRADUATING STUDENT
13. OVERALL BEST GRADUATING STUDENT.

Below is a gripping tribute penned by Kelechi to Uzoaku:

I barely slept all night because I was so excited. I couldn’t wait for the day to break. I’m beyond being proud of you, Ụzọakụ, I’m enchanted!

I still remember when Daddy drove us to Pamela Hospital to visit Mum and the new addition to our family. It was another girl, the fifth. I was quite young then, I didn’t yet know or even understand the snide remarks Mum and Dad constantly received from people because they hadn’t a son. I was more engulfed with the sad realization that my Last-Born regime, with all its privileges, was OVER.

You were born preterm, I got to know later, and that made you a very vulnerable baby. I remember the bouts of ailments you suffered at infancy. Your system magneted virtually every sickness. You were often weak and I and Chiletam (now she claims it was only her) had to carry you on our backs when going to meet our playmates in the neighborhood. Maybe because of the five-year gap between the two of us and the fact that the first four were born within a much closer range, you usually preferred your own company until Junior subsequently came along. You bonded with him so much that he always called you “Ụzọakụ nwanne m” – as if the rest of us are not his siblings too.

You were a precocious child and you rarely caused Mum any headache. I can’t even remember you throwing tantrums or fighting as a child. Maybe because I was a very caring immediate elder sister who never bullied you, unlike some people. You were, and still are, the least talkative amongst us. You rather channeled your juvenile energy into learning and discovery. You knew basic concepts of subjects that were way above your age. Everybody in our neighborhood was in awe of your brilliance. At a point, Dee Godspower, the Mbaise welder in front of our house, nicknamed you “Computer”. I remember recently when we were discussing about giving Igbo names to some technical terms. When it got to computer, I told Chiletam that its Igbo name should be “Ụzọakụ”.

You are multi-talented. You showed interest in practically every field of knowledge – music, building technology, science, linguistics, arts, etc. Dad bought you a piano when you were barely thirteen after noticing your flair for music. You were also the first child he bought a laptop for. Your drawings and paintings are still hanging on the walls at home. You also constructed buildings with carbon paper and gift wrappers, some of which Dad proudly displayed in his office. After giving you the French texts I used for SSCE, you began learning the French language and now know it even better than I do. What of the sciences? You’re a goddess of that field.

You’re just simply amazing!

Your brilliance has taken you to most parts of Nigeria. You represented FGGC Owerri and Imo State in numerous science competitions and you always brought home the prize. It was a competition you went for in Uyo that made you fall in love with the city and you decided to attend university there. It was the Maths teacher that usually escorted you to the contests that eventually connected you to his relative, our able in-law . After winning several cash and gift prizes (including in Pounds o!) in secondary school and leaving as the Best Graduating Student/Valedictorian with stellar WAEC and NECO results, you sailed through university on a TOTAL scholarship.

Today, you have invited us to Uyo to witness your induction into the medical profession and also watch you WIN the day – just as you ALWAYS do.