20-yr-old Osarieme Omonuwa Bags First-Class In Reading University

The belief that Nigeria remains a land generously endowed with the brightest and best brains in the world was once more reaffirmed on Wednesday, July 3, when Osarieme Anita Omonuwa bagged a First Class degree in Law at Reading University in the United Kingdom.

Miss Omonuwa, 20, who hails from Edo State in Nigeria, also received the 2012 prestigious “Chancellor's Award” of the university for her outstanding academic performance.
THISDAY learnt that Omonuwa has, by the exceptional academic feat, become the first black woman to win the Reading University Chancellor's Award.


The chancellor of the university, Sir John Madejski, on the occasion of the award presentation last Wednesday, described Omonuwa as “representative of our brightest and best students”.

Like a harbinger of her uncommon academic glory in law, she had three years earlier, in 2010, earned the Reading University Scholarship Award for academic excellence and won recognition as the overall best in the International Foundation Programme.


In 2012, Anita’s academic awards haul included the Clarks Legal Prize for the best performance in Part 2 Equity and Trust, presented by David Rintoul, Managing Partner, Clarks Legal LLP; Keith Wright Memorial Prize for best overall performance in Part 2; and Shoosmiths Prize for best overall performance in Part 2.

In May 2013, she was at Shoosmiths LLP, UK to do a day’s internship in the Employment Department and in June she stretched her internship drive into Construction Law. The latter experience enabled her to understand hardcore legal issues including the intricacies of construction contracts and the inevitable consequences of breaching agreed terms while at the Clarks Legal LLP.

All along, Anita has been the harvester of honours and awards. Anita, whose father, Mr. Omoruyi Augustine Omonuwa, is a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and holder of national honour, Order of the Federal Republic (OFR), said his daughter had shown great promise at a very tender age when in her kindergarten days at Our Lady of Apostles School, Airport Road, Benin-City, she finished as the best KG pupil and had a free uniform as a “motivational prize”. Anita also won the 2003 Bournvita Award for overall primary school performance at Our Lady's.

In addition, Anita won the 2008/2009 Certificate of Merit of the Igbinedion Education Centre in Benin-City as the over-all best graduating student in Accounting, English, Yoruba, Computer Science, Biology, Literature, Government, Economics, Foods and Nutrition.
Her excellence and eventual towering laurel in England is thus seen as the crowning of her intelligence and confirmation of her mental capacity.