By IBUKUN EMIOLA

Some candidates of the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examinations (UTME), who scored above 340 overall and had over 90 marks in mathematics, have largely attributed their success to hard work.

In separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Ibadan on Thursday, the candidates also pinpointed prayer and commitment as other secrets behind their stories.

Temiloluwa Afolabi, a 15-year-old would-be computer engineer from the Oritamefa Baptist Model School, Ibadan, said that he scored 98 in mathematics and 363 overall through doggedness and prayer.

He noted the power of vision and staying focused on whatever one set out to do.

?Having the goal in mind and looking at it, believing it will come together; then working towards it is the secret to success,? Afolabi said.

He urged other students to pray and study hard with their goals rigidly registered in their minds.

?If you can?t see it, you can?t get it. That?s one thing I?ve learnt ? if you cannot see what you want, you can?t get what you want.

?So, if you have the picture in mind that this is what I want to get, then you have to work towards it,? Afolabi said.

Similarly, 16-year-old Olarenwaju Okubanjo of Christ Ambassadors International College, Ibadan, attributed his success to working hard.

Okubanjo, who desires to study Mechanical Engineering at Pan Atlantic University, said his hard work and prayers paid off with a score of 97 in mathematics and 360 overall.

?I kept working hard, reading my textbooks over and over and over and over again, and then, I just kept doing past questions.

?I also kept praying to God, and it came out good, I?m grateful to God,? Okubanjo said.

He advised his colleagues to keep reading and practising, assuring them of success eventually.

?It is just a phase; it will all be worth it in the end,? he said.

Meanwhile, 15-year-old Bogotinjetoluwa Ayodeji-Olatuyi attributed his success to God and support from his family and teachers.

Ayodeji-Olatuyi of Christ Ambassadors International College, Ibadan, who scored 98 in mathematics and 345 overall, said he envisioned what he desired and worked hard for it.

?I did test practice examinations, basically, every day.

?I started working on my score with a plan on how to score higher marks,? he said.

Ayodeji-Olatuyi, who aspires to be an expert in Robotics and Artificial Intelligence, enjoined his mates to practice mathematics daily.

?I want to tell other students to plan and develop a daily goal, avoiding excuses that will not make them meet their goals.

?For me, this includes solving mathematical problems every day.

?This is one of the things I do that has helped me in my mathematics,? Ayodeji-Olatuyi said.

NAN recalls that the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) had revealed that only 4,756 of 1,955,069 candidates, representing 0.24 per cent, scored 320 and above. (NAN)

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