By John Mayaki

There is an old saying that what gets rewarded gets repeated. In a country where many young people increasingly question whether hard work still pays, institutions must be deliberate about what they choose to celebrate. That is why the partnership between Zenith Bank Plc and Edo State University, Iyamho (ESUI), deserves plenty of attention.

Let us put it in context. Academically, the universities in the southern part of Nigeria are not the first choices for many students and investors. Even in Edo, people would rather run to the bigger named federal universities. Hardly does anyone talk about ESUI. But quietly and resiliently, the university has been building its image and stature, and it is now beginning to carve a niche for itself.

In the early months of 2026, both institutions quietly entered into an agreement that speaks to something Nigeria desperately needs more of: the deliberate reward of merit. Under the initiative, six departments at Edo State University, the departments of Accounting, Business Administration, Banking and Finance, Economics, Sociology, and Entrepreneurship, will each reward produce the most outstanding graduating student annually based on the highest CGPA. Each recipient will receive N500,000 in recognition of sustained academic excellence.

The arithmetic is straightforward, but the message is even more important. Over five years, thirty outstanding graduates will be rewarded, with a total investment of N15 million in young minds who chose discipline over shortcuts and consistency over excuses.

In a society often accused of rewarding mediocrity while overlooking effort, this initiative sends a clear signal: excellence still matters. Yet, credit must also go to the leadership that made this possible.

When Professor Victor Olawale Adetimirin assumed office as Vice-Chancellor of Edo State University, he inherited a relatively young institution operating in a fiercely competitive academic environment. The odds were hardly stacked in favour of a university barely a decade old, competing against older and more established institutions. But the professor is a man of excellence and excellence starts with a vision.

A man without vision and ambition cannot be said to be a man of excellence. Professor Adetimirin is a man of excellence and decided that ESUI will not throw a pity party. The university will not complain about what it does not have. And the university will certainly not resort to playing catch-up. Instead, under his governance, direction and administration, the university chose to have ambition.

Excellence thrives in the presence of ambition. Under Adetimirin’s leadership, for instance the university recently partnered with the University of Norway, Oslo, Nagoya University, Japan, and Dongguk University, South Korea won a grant from the Research Council of Norway under the INTPART Programme for the Life on Metal Surfaces Project (LIMES), a collaborative research aimed at exploring the interaction among cells, bacteria and metals.

The consortium brings together global expertise across biomaterials, clinical dentistry, microbiology, biotechnology, materials science, and biomedical innovation.

The project’s outcomes will advance scientific knowledge with applications in healthcare, biotechnology, the food industry, and sustainable development while also training the next generation of researchers.

This milestone further strengthens Edo State University’s global research presence and underscores its growing reputation as a hub for cutting-edge research and international collaboration. The PI of the Project is Professor Charles Adetunji, a Professor of Microbiology at Edo State University.

Naturally, this international partnership is putting ESUI on the map, making it a force to be reckoned with globally. More importantly, the administration recognised an important truth: universities do not grow by infrastructure alone.

Strategic partnerships matter. This brings us to another important component of excellence. Excellence needs company. Did that great and excellent poet, John Donne, not write, saying, “no man is an island unto himself,”? Thus, ESUI and Zenith Bank’s strategic partnership to celebrate excellence is in itself a reflection of excellence.

Seen from that perspective, the Zenith Bank Award of Excellence Initiative is not an isolated intervention. It fits neatly into a broader institutional vision built on partnerships, digital innovation, scholarships, and a culture that insists excellence should not be accidental.

In fact, excellence draws attention. When a man is diligent (and excellent) in his works, rulers and kings come calling. And when they come calling, they come with gifts to contribute to the excellence.

Professor Adetimirin’s excellent leadership at ESUI put the university on the map, but also attracted the attention of Edo State Governor, Monday Okpebholo, who also possesses an unquenching drive for excellence and positively reformative hard work.

Deep calls to the deep. The reformer in Governor Okpebholo saw the reformer in Professor Adetimirin and the state government decided to support the state university with a support of 2 billion naira, 2 Toyota Hiace buses and 2 CNG buses.

Excellence starts with a reformer, then it attracts the attention of other reformers who value excellence. Yet, that is not the entire picture. There is yet another important party involves in ESUI’s excellence story.

At the centre of this story are the students. These are young men and women who spend years burning the midnight oil in lecture halls, libraries, and study rooms, often with no guarantee that effort will translate into opportunity.

Recognition at convocation, backed by financial support, changes the equation. For some, the award could provide breathing room while transitioning into professional life. For others, it may support entrepreneurial ambitions or postgraduate studies. But beyond the money lies something equally valuable: validation.

It is so discouraging for students when after all their hard work, it seems like no one is watching and the results are useless. It even seems more like society rewards clandestine pursuits and overlooks academic excellence. But the narrative will change with this intervention, for students who excel will now have something to look forward to.

The vision in their mind will not be tantamount to building castles in the air. It can crystallize into an achievable goal complete with a reward system. This can be very encouraging and motivating.

At a time when many young Nigerians are asking whether diligence still counts for anything, public recognition of merit matters. It reminds students that perseverance is not merely motivational rhetoric; it can produce real outcomes.

Zenith Bank, too, stands to gain something meaningful from this arrangement including visibility and credibility. There is a difference between corporate branding and corporate belief. When an institution consistently associates itself with talent, discipline, and achievement, that reputation sticks. Few forms of brand equity are stronger than being seen as an organisation that recognises excellence and invests in the future.

It is hardly surprising that Zenith Bank and Edo State University found common ground here. In many respects, both institutions appear to share a similar philosophy: excellence is not an accident; it is intentional.

Under the leadership of Dame Adaora Umeoji, who became Group Managing Director in 2023, Zenith Bank has continued to deepen its engagement in education, youth development, and broader national capacity-building. The initiative also aligns naturally with global development priorities such as SDG 4 (Quality Education), SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth), and SDG 17 (Partnership for the Goals).

For Edo State University, the partnership reinforces an identity it has steadily tried to build, to wit that a Nigerian state university, regardless of age or location, can compete on standards rather than excuses.

Too often, younger institutions are judged by diminished expectations. ESUI appears determined to reject that script. Through investments in technology, academic standards, partnerships, and merit-based recognition, it is making a case that excellence can grow anywhere if properly nurtured. And perhaps that is the real lesson here.

When institutions reward merit instead of merely talking about it, they shape culture. They tell the next generation that education is still worth the effort, that discipline still has value, and that hard work, while not always immediately rewarded, has not gone completely out of fashion. If Nigeria is serious about building institutions that last, this is the sort of partnership that should not just be celebrated it should be copied.

For Zenith Bank and ESUI, they have chosen to celebrate excellence. They have touched at the very heart of both academic and in all respects, human success. In this harmony of theirs, they have made an orchestral masterpiece spanning the financial sector, the educational sector and the esoteric sector of youths, whose glories are really in their strengths. With their strength, they aspire.

The university has also attracted the support of notable private citizens such as Ehi Aganmonmen and Peter Omoh Dunia, whose contributions are helping to strengthen the institution’s learning environment and facilities.

Aganmonmen, a businessman and philanthropist, supported Edo University by donating computers and furniture for the university’s Business Administration E-Library, while Peter Dunia is bankrolling the state-of-the-art Fitness Centre at the institution.

ESUI has continued to prove itself as a fertile ground for investments and strategic partnerships by corporate organizations, groups, and philanthropists committed to advancing quality education and infrastructure development.

As the Latin saying goes, “Ad Astra Per Aspera”, meaning “To the Stars Through Aspirations”. What we are witnessing, through the celebration of excellence by both institutions is itself an ode to excellence. Excellence is the be all and end all of success, and we all have a duty to celebrate it.