BATTLING TO GET A
POSTGRADUATE DEGREE
The below story is that of a physically challenge
postgraduate student of the University of
Lagos. It narrates the challenging strides of the
Master's degree student. You can receive
challenge and motivation from his story. Read
on...
Call Oluyemi Michael a study in determination,
you will not be out of point. Things have not
been rosy for him, but the 36-year-old has
refused to give in to the challenges of life.
Struck by polio at age five and having lost his
first university admission at 18, Michael, whose
closest companion are his crutches, today has
secured admission to pursue a master’s degree
at the University of Lagos.
He says, “I was told that I was a normal child
until I fell ill at about five and was taken to a
hospital by my
mother. There at the hospital, I received an
injection, and since then I have not been the
same. In fact, by the time we were through with
the hospital, I could no longer walk properly
again.
“To compound my problems, my father
abandoned me and the responsibility of catering
for me fell directly on my mother and my
grandmother. But as if that was not enough, my
mother passed on the very year I got admission
to study at the Obafemi Awolowo University,
Ile-Ife, Osun State. Of course, that was how I
lost the offer that year and since then, it has
been a long narrative of hard times and
challenges.”
So, last December when he received another
provisional admission letter to undergo a full
time master’s in History and Strategic Studies
at the University of Lagos, many things, Michael
says, have crossed his mind.
The difficult road he walked as an
undergraduate at the Olabisi Onabanjo
University, Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State; the
psychological and physical trauma he passed
through in his primary and secondary school
days, as well as the financial difficulties he
experienced all have conspired to make him
consider abandoning the UNILAG admission.
With nobody to provide weekly or monthly
allowance, how would he survive in Lagos? How
is he going to pay his tuition? How is he going
to feed? But Michael, who obtained a Second
Class (Upper Division) grade in History and
Diplomatic Studies at OOU, on a second
thought, says he is not one to be cowed by the
hard circumstances of life.
According to him, he is more than ready to
battle the race of life with dignity and strength.
Though people gave him monetary gifts,
especially in his undergraduate days, Michael
says he supported the charity with his own little
efforts.
The Ojowo, Ijebu-Igbo, Ogun State-born native
adds, “By nature, I am blessed with a can-do-
attitude. In spite of the challenges that I have
been experiencing since childhood, I have
always told myself that where there is a will,
there is a way.
“With this spirit, I have been able to overcome
some of the challenges coming my way in life.
For example, I was taking secondary school
pupils in tutorials and that way, I was
augmenting whatever good-spirited Nigerians
gave to me.
“Indeed, my case became very bad because I
grew up without my father’s support. Initially,
my dad started well in life and made good
money. But his greatest undoing was that he
married many wives and that resulted in a kind
of misfortune for him because all of them were
involved in one disagreement or another and he
eventually lost all his wealth. Because of the
hard time he faced, the responsibility of taking
care us fell on our mothers.”
Beyond sounding optimistic that he would
succeed, how he hopes to cater for his full
time master’s education in the next one year,
and perhaps go for his doctoral degree, remains
difficult to comprehend.
Practically, for the OOU 2011 graduate, he has
no immediate survival strategy, not to talk of a
plan B. He only hopes that good-spirited
Nigerians and corporate organisations will come
to his assistance.
He adds, “As we speak, I have only paid the
N61, 500 obligatory fee at UNILAG. This fee is
non-refundable and does not constitute
payment of other fees. I have yet to secure
accommodation in the university and since I do
not have anybody in Lagos, I am currently
shuttling between Ijebu-Igbo and Lagos and you
can see my ‘fine’ condition”, he jocularly notes.
Michael, who had his post-primary education at
the Japara High School, Ijebu-Igbo, holds the
view that street begging for the physically
challenged persons is not a good option for
them. According to him, that places them at
the receiving end of the society and makes
them not to have confidence in their ability.
He says, “It is sad, it is distressful. Many of
these people, if they have support, will do well
in life. Let there be financial provision for them.
Let there be special vocational training for
them. Some of them can cope with learning
skills and I tell you if they acquire these skills,
they will not go to the streets to beg.”
Narrating how he faced abusive, hurtful
circumstances and how he almost lost his self-
esteem while staying with his grandmother in
Ibadan, Oyo State, Michael says the experience
is not something that he will forget in a hurry.
He explains, “I was abused as a child, a thing
that almost destroyed my confidence in my
adulthood. I was abused in the sense that my
grandmother used to hide me from her landlady
because she wanted to be in good relationship
with her. In fact, she used to hide me from the
landlady because she did not want her to eject
her from the house. Perhaps too, the landlady
must have expressed dislike for a physically-
challenged child like me. So if the woman was
around, my grandmother would hurriedly
smuggle and hide me in the room.”
However, is there any woman in his life? To
this, Michael, who initially hissed with a deep
frown on his face, later smiled, saying, “My
brother, please can we talk about other things?
I do not want to discuss such an issue for now.
I will cross that bridge when I am done with my
education.”

wow,this is inspiring