A
woman has carved a niche for herself in the academic world after she pursued a degree for 16 years and ended up getting
the best of them all.
Mrs. Oluwamayo Ojumah
Mrs. Oluwamayo Ojumah, a highly energetic Nigerian lady, stunned
colleagues, and delighted family and friends has translated her 16-year
old personal misfortunes into a success story.
Saturday Vanguard reports that after spending 16 years in pursuit
of a university degree at four different universities within and outside
Nigeria, she finally emerged with a First Class degree in Biochemistry
at the University of Lagos.
Interestingly, making a First Class degree, did not come accidental
to her, it was a decision taken after several failed attempts at
studying medicine and under the care of her pastor father, Mr. Johnson
Ajibade, and her husband, Mr. Felix Ojumah, who is a Petroleum Engineer.
While speaking with Saturday Vanguard on the experience that saw
her going from Ago Iwoye, United Kingdom, Okada, Lagos and nearly to
Saint Kitts in the Americas for a university degree that was largely
elusive for 16 years, she exclaimed; ‘’I am still in shock.”
Continuing, the obviously excited Ojumah, who recently had her
convocation at the University of Lagos, UNILAG, flashed back recalling
how her wasted years in pursuit of the degree paid off with a Cumulative
Grade Point Average ,CGPA, of 4.51.
Expounding this at her home in Lagos, she said: ‘’I left
secondary school in 2004 and in that same year I got admission into
Olabisi Onabanjo University ,OOU, for Applied Zoology and the agreement
was that if I performed well they were going to transfer me to
Medicine.
I" had wanted to study Medicine. I didn’t really get the scope
of the course, so I was not doing well. I think I left in 200 levels. So
my parents said I should go abroad and study Medicine. Unfortunately it
was quite expensive and I didn’t want to get them into those strains of
providing that kind of finance every year. So, we reached an agreement
to come back home and go to Igbinedion University, Okada. That was in
2009.
"I went to the UK and came back. In the UK they were not ready
to admit me to read Medicine. I needed to do a lot of courses before and
then thinking about the financial implications I had to come back home.
Since Igbenedion was better and they said they were going to allow me
read Medicine, I came back home.
"So, when I got to Igbenedion I was admitted into 200 levels
with my transcript from OOU. I did 200 levels and 300 levels but at the
level of my MB, I failed two courses, I passed Biochemistry and failed
Anatomy and Physiology. By the time I did my resit, I think I failed
Anatomy and failed physiology."
Ordinarily, many would opt out at this time, but Ojumah embraced the options that came her way.
‘’The option was either to repeat the class, take a transcript
and go abroad either to Ukraine or to Saint Kits in the Americas,” she stated.
Considering that it would be less burdensome financially for her
comfortable parents, she opted to go to Saint Kitts, an Island in the
Americas formerly known as Saint Christopher.
‘’It was not as expensive like going to the UK. And just within
that period while processing the passport; I had a little problem with
immigration. It took a little while. Unfortunately, by the time I got my
passport, the border had been closed. Unfortunately, my mother passed
away in March 2011 and I couldn’t go abroad any more.
"They wanted me to go and I told them that it did not make
sense going abroad again. The only option was to go to University of
Lagos. Now that was the fourth time of starting all over again and I did
not want to sit for JAMB. The only option was to do the foundation
programme from 2011 to 2012 after which I took Direct Entry into 200
levels.”
Narrating her experience at UNILAG, she said the disposition of her
lecturers and students towards her were not outside the ordinary.
"The Biochemistry lecturers of the University of Lagos are
okay. They gave their best. At least I have been to other institutions
and know the kind of things other students go through. My supervisor Dr.
Lawal was supportive. The day I knew he was proud of me was the day he
said I was graduating with a First Class. And when they discovered that I
was married, I had a better relationship,” she added.
Asked if there were exceptional methods applied to achieve the feat, she said: I
didn’t just depend on class notes. I used Youtube and downloaded most
things that had been taught from Youtube and I read a lot. I can read
from 8pm to 6am. My husband was also supportive because I used to watch
movies a lot but he ensured that I did not fail to read because of
movies.
"He would wake me up at night and even sometimes compel me to
read. I read a lot, prayed a lot. In fact, I prayed like I was not
reading and read like I was not reading. I am still in shock.
"The summary of it all is that God saw me through. I think God
just wanted to honour me. I did a lot of work. People are talking about
me that I came out with a First Class after all I have been through. It
feels great. I already knew I was going to get First Class in October
when the results came out. I think I have been in shock until the day of
graduation. I just don’t believe that this is me. I am not a genius.
Some think I read a lot. People don’t remember my past stories, but I
have a cause to thank God.”
