Pharmacology, University of Lagos, having scored 4.52 CGPA in the 2013/2014
academic session. In this interview with Punch’s Tunde Ajaja, he talks about his
days as an undergraduate:
Can you recall how you felt when you learnt
you were the best in your department and faculty?
I was
very happy when I learnt I was the best in the faculty because I wasn’t
expecting it. I didn’t know I was the best in the department until the final
faculty result was released. So, when I heard I led the faculty, I was very
happy. I believe many people also worked hard like I did, but God just wanted me
to have it. It was a total surprise.
Did you have a goal you were
working toward or having first class was just by providence?
Graduating
with a first class was a decision I made two years before I gained admission
into the university. All I did while in the university was to pursue that goal,
and that made it easier for me because I already knew what I wanted. I
discovered that most people don’t have an expectation of what they want to
graduate with and that makes it difficult to track their
progress.
Beyond setting a goal, did you do anything out of the
ordinary to be the best in your faculty?
It is mainly about getting
priorities right. I understood that when school was in session, it was time to
read and all I did was to read. Then I played when school was on break. I think
what I did differently was that I read every day for at least four hours instead
of waiting until exams period. That helped me to prepare ahead such that I had
few things to cover when it was time for exams. Interestingly, I wasn’t so much
a fantastic student in my previous schools. My performance wasn’t consistent.
There were times I had good results and there were times my performance was not
very good. So, it was a mix, but thank God I became better. So, regardless of my
efforts, I would still ascribe my success to God because, really, it is all
about Him. I did my part but God granted me the strength.
If you were
not so fantastic then, did you find it difficult to pass your West African
Senior School Certificate Examination and Unified Tertiary Matriculation
Examination?
Passing WAEC was a big problem
for me because I had a faulty orientation about it. I was told all I needed as a
science student was just to pass English, Mathematics, Physics, Biology and
Chemistry. So I felt I didn’t need to read
since I saw myself as brilliant. It took me three sittings to have 5
credits. UTME was very easy for me, even though I took the exam three
times and I had more than 240 in each of the sittings. Basically, my WASSCE kept
delaying me. I finished my secondary education in 2006 and I secured admission
in 2010. I didn’t find it easy seeing some of my mates already in school while I
was still at home, taking O’level exams, but that has passed and I’m happy with
where God has brought me.
Some people believe that courses related to
medicine are meant for brilliant students only. How true is that?I believe everybody is brilliant and there is no course
meant for some group of people, it’s just the application of our minds that
differs. Medical courses are actually stressful and the textbooks are usually
voluminous and it requires consistent reading, but if people are doing it, then
anybody can do it. Some of those textbooks are interesting while some are
very boring. I always read the boring ones before reading the seemingly
interesting ones. But in spite of the demands, I love it and I enjoyed it.
Though, there were times I felt intimidated by other professional medical
courses, since I enjoyed what I was doing, it wasn’t a big deal to
me.
When did you start having first class?
My final year. I had
been working at it right from when I was in 100 Level, but it didn’t reach that
mark until my final year. I never gave up and I’m glad I made it.
What
was your typical day like?
My movement was mainly revolved around three
places; from hostel to class and or from there to church. I was always in class
from 6pm to 10pm every day and I was always at our praying field from 6am – 7am,
Mondays – Saturdays. Having a first class is not cheap, so, I was reading for
about six to seven hours during weekdays and I could do 10 hours on Saturday and
Sunday. I only used the library during my first year but after then, I preferred
reading in class because I like reading in a noisy environment.
Given
the volume of books and notes you had to read, did you have time for social
events?
At my leisure, it was either I was
reading or I was teaching others. So, there was no specific time for social
events but I didn’t miss Chelsea matches, even if the team was to play at 2am or
I had exams the following day. I loved football and I wasn’t going to
miss any match that concerned my team, except I was in church. I believe to be
intelligent is to know everything about something and to know something about
everything. So, I had to read beyond my course.
Were you in a
relationship then or you saw it as a distraction?
I was not in any
relationship. Though there were ladies I liked and there were ladies who liked
me, I knew the goals I had set for myself and I knew I had to concentrate my
emotional energy on God and my studies. It could have been a distraction for me,
so I had to leave it.
Were there weird things you did in a bid to
read?
I read in the oddest places on campus, like in the canteen, on the
street, in the wards, in the toilet, at the lagoon front, etc., mainly because I
read alone. I hardly read with people except I was teaching.
Since you
were also reading at your free time, didn’t your friends see you as too
serious?
There were such instances but I didn’t allow that to disturb me
because the people who were seeing me as being too serious were still the same
people who would ask me to teach them during exams.
What were your
memorable moments as an undergraduate?
I had a number of that but out of
them all, there were two memorable moments that stood out, the day my class went
to Whispering Palms in Badagry to have fun after our exams, and I really had
fun, and my convocation day, when I had to shake hands with the university
chancellor, Prof. Jerry Gana, and the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Rahamon
Bello.
In your view, why do students fail?
I think some people fail because they fail to place their
priorities correctly and because most students wait for exam to come before they
prepare for it. Students need to be diligent and consistent. I believe
those are the key to having an excellent result.
What was the oddest
thing you ever did for the sake of your academics?
Spending Christmas and
New Year holidays in school.
