Nigerian teen gets selected in 19 universities, scholarship over $5m  

World+Biz

TBS Report 
02 May, 2021, 09:25 pm
Last modified: 02 May, 2021, 10:27 pm

Victory Yinka-Banjo, a 17-year-old Nigerian high school graduate, has been offered over $5 million worth of scholarship money for an undergraduate programme of study in 19 universities across the globe. 

Despite her academic achievement, the Nigerian teen herself while applying thought she would be rejected from universities abroad, reports CNN. 

"It still feels pretty unbelievable. I applied to so many schools because I didn't even think any school would accept me," said Victory. 

She was given potential full scholarships from the Ivy League schools, Yale College, Princeton University, Harvard College, and Brown University in the US while Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Stanford University, Johns Hopkins University and the University of Virginia also offered her admission opportunity and grant. 

Victory rose to national prominence in late 2020 after she scored straight A's in her West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE). 

The Nigerian teen had earlier been rated as the "Top in the World" in English as a second language (speaking endorsement) by the University of Cambridge International Examination (CIE). She also sat for the Cambridge IGCSE exam and acquired A grade in all six subjects.

Born to Nigerian parents, Chika Yinka-Banjo, a senior lecturer at the University of Lagos, and Adeyinka Banjo, a private sector procurement and supply chain executive, Victory currently is tutoring other university admission seekers through the radio. 

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