The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) is an international organization responsible for various academic examinations across Anglophone West Africa. The five member countries of the council are The Gambia, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone. Every year, one of the member countries hosts a five-day conference called the Annual Council Meeting. This meeting is the most important activity in the diary of the West African Examinations Council where all accredited representatives of WAEC’s principal stakeholders from the five member countries are present. At the opening ceremony which is a public event, the council honors three examination candidates with outstanding performance in the West African Senior High School Certificate Examination with the International Excellence Award.
The 69th Annual Council Meeting was hosted virtually in Ghana this year. At the meeting it was announced that a total of 2,264,707 examination candidates from the five countries wrote the West African Senior High School Certificate Examination in 2020. Of this number, 465 were considered for the International Excellence Award on the basis of making straight A’s on the exam without any examination malpractice. The actual scores on the tests were then used to choose the top three performers. All three recipients of the International Excellence Award were from Ghana and the one who came second was Godfred Aseda Obeng of the Hope College Class of 2020.
Godfred Aseda Obeng was admitted to Hope College in 2017 and began to show early promise of academic improvement. He exhibited a serious attitude toward academic work, his responsibilities as a student and life in general. Though quiet and unassuming, his assiduousness towards his studies resulted in academic excellence which earned him a place to represent Hope College in the National Science and Math Quiz competition where Hope College was narrowly eliminated in the Central Regional preliminary contest. Godfred’s academic excellence was as exemplary as his moral character. While a student at Hope College, he was a person of integrity and humility. He was very respectful in his speech and conduct. He also had an altruistic personality that endeared him to the entire Hope College community. He went out of his way to offer help to others. His achievements are an abiding motivation and testimony to all students that hard work,
diligence, perseverance, integrity, humility and selflessness pay lasting dividends to those who pursue excellence anchored on a virtuous character.
The entire Village of Hope family is so proud of Godfred’s achievements and we hope and pray that other students of Hope College would emulate him in all areas and continue to strive for excellence.
