A Y N I G E R I A C O M M U N I T Y S P O T L I G H T
Connect & Grow
W IT H AY N IG E R IA · EXC E L L E NC E . CO M M U N ITY. L EGACY.
EDUCATION & YOUTH DEVELOPMENT
APRIL 2 0 2 6
A C A D E M I C E X C E L L E N C E & C O M M U N I T Y · B O U E S T I & E K S U
Where Brilliance Belongs: How
Connect & Grow with AY Nigeria
Became a Home for the Best
Graduating Minds
They did not join this community after their results came out. They were already here, as students, growing alongside their books and their ambitions. When graduation day arrived, it simply confirmed what the community already knew.
BY THE AY NIGERIA EDITORIAL DESK · SPECIAL FEATURE · APRIL 2 0 2 6
here is something remarkable happening inside Connect & Grow with AY Nigeria. Not a programme. Not a campaign. Something far more organic and far more meaningful. Six of the best graduating students from two of Ekiti State’s finest universities were members of this
community before they ever collected their scrolls. They were here as students. They grew here. They were shaped here. And when convocation came and their names were called out as the finest in their departments, the community rose with them.
AY Nigeria, the founder and driving spirit of Connect & Grow, is not a man who celebrates people from a distance. He did not discover these graduates after their results. He knew them. He had walked alongside them in community. And when their academic distinction became public, he said what he felt without
ceremony: congratulations, just wow, thank you, I am truly honoured, and I am very glad our paths crossed.
Those words tell the full story. This is a community that does not wait for people to succeed before it values them. It values them on the way.
BOUESTI: Four Members. Four Distinctions. One Community.
Bamidele Olumilua University of Education, Science and Technology in Ikere-Ekiti is a serious academic institution that demands real effort from its students. Four of its finest graduating students from the most recent set were already members of Connect & Grow with AY Nigeria before graduation. They sat in this community through late nights and exam seasons, and they came out the other side with results that made their institution proud.
B O U E S T I : I K E R E – E K I T I · C L A S S O F 2 0 2 5
Obasuyi Ayomide
COMPUTER SCIENCE · B OUEST I , IKE RE – EK IT I
Obasuyi Ayomide was a member of Connect & Grow with AY Nigeria while he was still a student. He
committed to this community before he had a result to show for it, and that says a great deal about his
character. When graduation came, he left BOUESTI as the Best Graduating Student in Computer Science. That is a title that does not come without years of sustained effort and genuine intellectual discipline.
AY Nigeria celebrated it with the fullness of someone who had watched it coming. He called Ayomide’s
brilliance what it was, expressed sincere honour, and said he was very glad their paths had crossed. This community was proud of Ayomide long before his result sheet confirmed what everyone already sensed.
Adu Precious Oluwatunmise
CIVIL ENGINEERING · B OUEST I , IKE RE – EK IT I
Adu Precious Oluwatunmise was part of Connect & Grow before the world knew her name. She brought her ambition into this community as a student, and she left BOUESTI as its Best Graduating Student in Civil Engineering for the Class of 2025. Civil Engineering is a field that demands both precision and
endurance, and Precious gave it both.
AY Nigeria was wowed. He said so plainly. He thanked her for being a shining star and expressed true honour at having someone of her character and calibre in the community. Precious did not become a shining star at graduation. She already was one. Graduation simply made it official.
Idowu Ayomide
COMPUTER SCIENCE · B OUEST I , IKE RE – EK IT I
Idowu Ayomide chose community before he chose to wait for results. He was a member of Connect &
Grow with AY Nigeria as a student, carrying both his academic work and his commitment to something
bigger than the classroom. He graduated as a distinguished Computer Science scholar from BOUESTI, and AY Nigeria received that result with genuine warmth, heartfelt congratulations, and a gladness that their paths had crossed.
His story is a reminder that this community does not just celebrate outcomes. It walks with people
through the process. Idowu walked through that process here, and he came out with something to show for it.
Winner Glory
COMPUTER SCIENCE · B OUEST I , IKE RE – EK IT I
The name Winner Glory is one that carries its own quiet declaration, and this Computer Science graduate of BOUESTI has lived up to every syllable of it. Winner Glory was a member of Connect & Grow with AY
Nigeria before graduation, choosing community and purpose as a student long before any scroll was handed over.
AY Nigeria celebrated the achievement with characteristic sincerity. He thanked Winner Glory for being a shining star, expressed real honour, and said what he always means: that he is very glad their paths
crossed. In a community built on excellence and genuine connection, Winner Glory is a name that fits right in.
EKSU: Two Voices from Ado-Ekiti
Ekiti State University in Ado-Ekiti carries an academic tradition that runs deep across the state. From its most recent graduating set, two members of the Connect & Grow community stepped forward with distinctions that speak for themselves. Both were part of this community before graduation. Both left theirrespective departments as the best in their programmes.
E K S U E K I T I S T A T E U N I V E R S I T Y · A D O – E K I T I
Temitope Oluwatimilehin Emmanuel
BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION · EK SU , A DO – EK IT I
Temitope Oluwatimilehin Emmanuel was already a member of Connect & Grow with AY Nigeria when he was still navigating the demands of academic life at EKSU. His department spans three competitive
programmes, Business Administration, Marketing, and Industrial Relations and Personnel Management, each with its own graduating class. Within his own programme, Business Administration, Temitope stood at the top.
When AY Nigeria celebrated him, the reaction was characteristically genuine. He congratulated Temitope, called his achievement brilliant, said he was truly honoured, and expressed exactly what he felt: that he
was very glad their paths had crossed. Those words carry more weight when you understand that the
paths had already been crossing for sometime, as fellow members of the same community, long before the convocation.
Kehinde Olatunji
GUIDANCE AND COUNSELLING · EK SU , A DO – EK IT I
Kehinde Olatunji graduated as the Best Graduating Student in the Department of Guidance and Counselling at Ekiti State University. There is something fitting about a student of that discipline
achieving at the very highest level. Guidance and Counselling is a field built on understanding people, on
listening well, and on supporting others toward their best. Kehinde clearly brought that same attentiveness and care to his own academic work.
He was a member of Connect & Grow with AY Nigeria before he wore his graduation gown, choosing this community during his student years. AY Nigeria celebrated his distinction with sincerity, thanked him for being a shining star, and said what has become a hallmark of how he receives every outstanding member: Iam very glad our paths crossed. With Kehinde, that gladness is richly deserved.
The Man Behind the Community
It would be easy to write about Connect & Grow with AY Nigeria as a platform or a programme. But that would miss the point entirely. What made six of the best graduating students from BOUESTI and EKSU choose to be part of this community before their results even arrived is not a structure. It is a person.
AY Nigeria is a man who genuinely celebrates other people’s wins. When Adu Precious Oluwatunmise topped her Civil Engineering class, he was wowed and he said so. When Obasuyi Ayomide and Idowu Ayomide and Winner Glory brought Computer Science excellence to the community from BOUESTI, he thanked them. When Temitope Oluwatimilehin Emmanuel and Kehinde Olatunji carried their distinctions from EKSU, AY Nigeria expressed real honour at having known them even before those distinctions were announced.
He does not perform celebration. He does not issue it from a distance. He shows up with warmth, with gratitude, and with the kind of sincerity that makes people feel that their effort was seen all along. That quality is why students chose to be here before they had anything to announce. And it is why the community they belong to keeps growing.