Nancy Atorerefa Popo has emerged as Wellspring University’s best graduating student for 2026, completing her degree in International Relations and Diplomacy with a cumulative grade point average of 4.98 out of 5.0.
Her academic achievement also reflected a personal struggle she described while delivering the valedictory address at the university’s 14th convocation ceremony in Benin City, Edo State.
According to The Guardian’s account of her address, Popo managed a chronic autoimmune disorder throughout her studies. She said the condition restricted aspects of her daily routine and required continuing medication, but she remained determined to achieve her academic goals.
The university graduated 404 students at the ceremony, comprising 294 recipients of first degrees and 110 postgraduates. Alongside the undergraduate awards, the institution conferred doctoral degrees on its first set of successful candidates.
Vice-Chancellor Professor Isaac Rotimi Ajayi said the pioneer doctoral cohort comprised 15 Doctor of Philosophy recipients and two graduates of the Doctor of Business Administration programme.
Ajayi said their graduation demonstrated the institution’s development in postgraduate teaching and research. He urged the new doctorate holders to extend scholarship in their disciplines, guide younger academics and apply their expertise to Nigeria’s development, according to the Nigerian Observer’s report on the ceremony.
Among the first-degree recipients, 47 students, including Popo, earned First Class Honours. Ajayi’s breakdown placed the largest group in the Second Class Upper Division, with 145 graduates.
Another 91 students obtained Second Class Lower Division degrees, while 11 finished with Third Class Honours. Together, the four classifications accounted for the 294 undergraduate awards.
Beyond the presentation of qualifications, speakers examined the responsibilities graduates would face after leaving university and the changes institutions must make to keep education relevant.
Chancellor Pastor Ituah Ighodalo urged the graduating students to measure their contribution through the work they undertook and the communities they served. He said receiving a degree carried obligations that extended beyond personal career advancement.
Ighodalo identified artificial intelligence, climate change, shifting international relations and economic uncertainty as forces reshaping the environment in which the graduates would work.
He encouraged them to approach their careers diligently, support their communities and uphold integrity in their decisions. Academic attainment, he said, needed the support of sound character and a willingness to accept responsibility.
The convocation lecture addressed a related question: how universities could prepare students to respond to changing circumstances and practical problems.
Speaking on “The University and the Future: Educated Minds in an Era of Disruption and Opportunity,” Dr Alban Igwe, Director-General of the Dangerous Goods Academy, Lagos, called for changes to university curricula that would connect learning more closely with society’s needs.
Ajayi also outlined changes to the university’s academic offerings. He announced that the National Universities Commission had approved Medicine and Surgery, Human Anatomy, Human Physiology, Community Health Science and Health Information Management.
The institution’s official announcement on the new health programmes identifies the 2026/2027 academic session as the admission cycle for the expansion. The additional courses extend the university’s undergraduate provision in medical and health-related disciplines.