On the 27th of June this year, Onoriode Reginald Aziza, a graduate from the prestigious Faculty of Law, Obafemi Awolowo University will be having his graduation ceremony from Cambridge University. Bellanaija profiles the outstanding excellence of Onoriode in an interview. Relax and read:

The star of today’s show is deserving of all the celebration we can muster because he has distinguished himself on three different levels of academic pursuit. Graduating from the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife , with a first class degree, he went on to achieve the same feat at the Nigerian Law School. In June 2015, Onoriode Reginald Aziza graduated from the Cambridge University with another first class degree.

Onoriode’s father is a retired civil servant, and his mother is a professor at the Delta State University. Talking about his parents, he says that his father counselled consistent hard work.

We love the raw honesty and brilliance of Onoriode’s story! “Although I had a penchant for childish excesses, good parental discipline and support from my siblings led me in the right path, and into starting my schooling at a tender age. I believe this gave me a spirit of extreme determination, a trait I believe, is my most distinct feature."

When you read the story, you’ll know why our excitement knows no bounds.

I Was Never a Genius
After strenuous struggles at the prestigious Kings College Lagos, I was admitted to study law in Obafemi Awolowo University at 15. Young, naïve and free-spirited, I took up the challenge of studying law – and a daunting challenge it was! My initial years were rough. I initially had a writing style used across all examinations, but wildly fluctuating grades quickly taught me to pick courses only after careful enquiry, and tailor examination answers to the tastes of the particular lecturers. After initial skirmishes with unpleasant grades, I later became consistent and my CGPA hovered around a 4.4 from the second semester of my third year until my very last result. The fact that I am the only first class graduate of the Faculty of Law in the last four years confirms the difficulty of the task.

The Daunting Feat of Law School
Proceeding to the Nigerian Law School at 20 presented even more challenges: I was forced to compete with my colleagues in the Yenagoa Campus and with the five other campuses of the Law School system; I was exposed to seminar-styled lectures sometimes running into six hours in length with only a thirty minute break, as opposed to the maximum of two-hours I was accustomed to in the university; I was compelled to challenge myself on a national scale against the best and brightest of students around Nigeria; and I was constantly reminded that as the best graduating law student from OAU, I had to replicate this excellence on a national scale. I had the benefit of fantastic lecturers at the Yenagoa Campus of the Law School who showed me the nuances of the system and how to make the most of it. After ceaseless hours of working through the year and during the externship programs, I sat the bar examinations and made my 2nd first-class and finished as the second best in Nigeria.

I recall joking with my friends that whilst I do not have the dexterity of Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo on a football pitch, I may have the ability to score a hat-trick of first-class results...

Read the rest of the interview here and more pictures >> http://www.oaupeeps.com/2015/06/meet-oau-graduate-with-three-first.html

An academic perfectionist. Its first class or nothing. Congrats!

LAST four years? What about courses like Biochemistry person fit get first class with 5.0 in OAU?

News about first class no longer impress me. Life no longer has respect for such things. Ask Wole Soyinka, Albert Einstein, Bill Gates, etc for more info.