Man Who Wrote Jamb 5 Times, Becomes The 1st Bacock Student To Graduate With 1st Class In Political Science & Now A PhD Holder

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Exactly 1year ago, I got my doctorate. I didn’t originally want to get a PhD.
When I finished secondary school, my family moved from Onitsha in Anambra to Lagos. I wanted to study law but I couldn’t get admitted to any of the federal universities I was applying to because my JAMB and WAEC weren’t especially exceptional.

The only WAEC subject I had an A in was Igbo Language and I could barely score 200 in JAMB. (JAMB: Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board; WAEC: West African Examinations Council. These are standardized examination bodies. WAEC is O’level while, JAMB is for university admissions)

After 5 years and 5 attempts at JAMB, I heard about a Bachelors of Education program at Osun State College of Education (OSCOED) Ilesa, operated in affiliation with the University of Ibadan. I applied and was admitted to study Political Science. In my 2nd year at Ilesa, I decided the place wasn’t for me. So, I wrote JAMB again. This time, I applied to Babcock University, Ogun state.

When I applied to Babcock university, I wanted to study law but I was admitted to study International Law and Diplomacy (ILD). I didn’t want to study ILD. So, I went back to the Political Science that l was studying at OSCOED.

By the time I got to Babcock, I already had more than a year worth of experience studying Political Science. The first person I met during my effort to get admitted at Babcock was Dr.Nwaodike Chibuzor Ayodele, a final year student in Political science then. I told him during one of our discussions that since I didn’t get the Law I wanted, I was now going to make a First Class in Political Science.

He pointed out the fact that there has never been a First Class in the Department since the university started. I told him I was going to be the first person to do it. He laughed at me and dared me to try.

One of the most influential relationships I started at Babcock was with the man that later became my undergraduate project supervisor, Emeritus Prof. J. ‘Bayo Adekanye. Prof. Adekanye took me under his wings and it was him that sowed the idea of teaching Political Science into my head.

On the 5th of June 2011, I became the first Bacock student to graduate with a First Class in Political Science. I proceeded to Coventry University where I studied International Relations: African Governance and Security. When I came back to Nigeria, Prof. Adekanye recommended me to Igbinedion University, where I have been teaching Political science for the last six years now.

The last six years has been the most seminal part of my life. I have made a lot of gains. I’ve met students that have become good friends. Met colleagues that have shaped me. I have travelled to different parts of Nigeria on conferences. I have gone to 8 countries on 3 continents. I’ve learnt about my real self. My emotional intelligence have grown. My patience have been tested. I’ve also trained under very fine professors and on the 30th of November 2019, I earned my PhD.

But I’ve also lost some stuff that no one should ever lose. I’ve lost money, love and friends. Yet, I found me. Something tells me my time at Igbinedion is going to be the most important period in the formation of the man I will be for the rest of my life.

When I was in secondary school, I was a “dull” student. I can still remember coming home with a result where I took the 34th position in a class of 34 students. I wrote JAMB 5 times. Yet, here I am with a PhD, 6 years experience in my career doing something that gives meaning to my life and still young enough to do anything I want with my life. I can still reinvent my life now and get a second career, if I want it.

Yet, I felt like a failure at the age of 20.

I always see some young people in their teenage years thinking that because they’ve written JAMB three times they are now failures.
I see people in their 20s thinking they have no time because they haven’t secured a job 4 years after they graduated from the university.

Let me tell you this:
You can be unemployed for 7 years, get a job on the 8th year and still be young enough to do whatever you want with your life.

Also, some journey are not straightforward. In fact most life journeys are not. If I had not gone to OSCOED and studied for close to two years, there’s no way I would have had a first class. But I didn’t know it then. I thought life was taking me to a place I didn’t want whereas life was getting me ready for what I didn’t know I needed.

There is no deadline as long as you are alive. Every single deadline you have is in your head. If you are heartbroken, take the time to heal. If you lost something, take the time to rebuild. If you are tired, be kind enough to yourself to rest, even if the rest is for a whole year. Life is a marathon, not a sprint.

Source: Facebook

Email: elora.akpotosevbe@yahoo.com