LARGELY NEGLECTED BY MEN, BUT NEVER FORGOTTEN BY GOD (2)
Deeper Life! Higher Stardom!
31 August 2015
The lively Nigerian media was abuzz with his extraordinary feat. He became the ready cynosure of all eyes, particularly those who had thronged the Multipurpose Hall, venue of the convocation ceremony of the prestigious University of Lagos, to catch a glimpse of the Ekiti-born genius. All were pleasantly-awed by the outstanding achievements of this unassuming young man, who became the youngest PhD holder in Africa, from no less a stable than the prestigious University of Lagos, in the much-dreaded field of Mathematics.
"In the 52-year history of this Ivory Tower, no student, especially at the Postgraduate level, had scored the whole available five points in Mathematics as currently done by Olaoluwa", Dr Taiwo Ipaye, the suave Registrar of the university ecstatically enthused, to the deafening admiration of the exultant spill-over audience at the glamorous event. “But this young man has set a record by scoring 5/5 during his 3-year PhD programme here. Apart from scoring 5/5 in his course work, his thesis: "Studies on Fixed Points of Contractive and Expanding Maps in Multi-Dimensional Species", which was supervised by the duo of Professors Johnson Olaleru and Samuel Ajala, was also adjudged the best PhD thesis ahead of 104 others", she added before inviting the 24-year old Olaoluoluwa Hallowed Oluwadara to the rostrum during the June11, 2014 convocation ceremony of the university.
Indeed, this historical feat, of becoming the youngest PhD holder in Africa at just 24 years of age, is one of the numerous dumbfounding achievements which has been the hallmark of the excellence-laden academic journey of the humble Olaoluwa, from his elementary school days.
Among many other extraordinary achievements, he has the following:
-Double promotion from Primary 4 to 6, omitting Primary 5
-Double promotion from Secondary Junior class 2 to Senior Class 1, omitting JS 3
-Double promotion from SS1 to SS3, omitting SS2
-Spent 4 years to complete the 6 years Secondary School education, a very rare feat in Central African Republic
-During mid-term in SS3 to SS4 (Diploma Year)
-Direct entry admission to Universit’e de Bangui, CAR for simultaneous degree courses in Mathematics and Physics, the very first time in the history of the university. (An extant law at the Universit’e de Bangui, CAR that no student is allowed to study for more than one programme at a time, but in his (Olaoluwa’s) case,the institution granted him a special waiver by setting aside the rule to allow the genius who had applied to study Mathematics and Physics simultaneously in the University)
-Graduated at 17years of age with a First Class and the best result in each of the Mathematics and Physics degree courses he ran simultaneously with an outstanding score of 16.76 out of a possible 20, the next student scored 11 points
- Got a simultaneous Masters degree in Mathematics and Physics with a superlative distinction and best result in each of the courses at the age of 19, youngest ever in CAR
-The whole of CAR was awashed with the news of this extraordinary feat. Incredibly, many got converted to Christ and membership of the Deeper Life Bible Church grew tremendously as a result of this rare feat by Olaoluwa.
-The news of this feat filtered to the ears of Pastor William Folorunso Kumuyi, the General Overseer of DLBC, who offered to sponsor the PhD programme, with the condition it has to be done at the prestigious University of Lagos (UNILAG), where he (Kumuyi) also graduated with a First class in Mathematics, and lectured briefly before obeying God's call, and plunging into full-time ministry which gave rise to Deeper Life Bible Church as we have it today.
-He completed his PhD programme in 3 years with an historical outstanding 5/5 in his course work and the best PhD thesis ahead of 104 others in the academic session.
"All these achievements and success of mine are rooted in my relationship with the Almighty God; I dedicate everything to Him", the humble and downrightly simple Olaoluwa responded to a question on what makes him tick so excellently. "I thank my parents for sacrificially giving me sound foundation, as well as several other individuals and organizations, especially the Deeper Life Christian Ministries, which made sure my academic journey is a smooth one, particularly with the funds", he thankfully summed it up
Even then, Olaoluwa declared that he is still looking unto God for further direction about his future. "I am looking unto God for my next line of action, but my hope is to work for God as a pastor alongside my career as a lecturer".
The euphoric father, the Moba-born Pastor Michael Oluwadara, while expressing no surprise at his son’s achievements, believed all these are part of the manifestations of God’s wonders in his life. "He is just the last of my three children, and even his older brother, who is a gynaecologist, has just finished a programme equivalent of PhD in that medical field. I think it is a journey we started long ago. As missionary parents, we knew we did not have much to give our children like my colleagues who had pursued their careers in engineering, so we felt the best we could offer them was sound education and sound Christianity".
Indeed this mechanical engineering graduate father of the flourishing Olaoluwa couldn’t have been truer. The journey to divine stardom unconsciously started about thirty years ago when the Moba, Ekiti-born Mecahanical Engineering graduate , Michael Oluwadara and his wife Olamide, a church worker decided to pitch their tent fully with God, and obey His call for their lives. Having graduated with a high grade and with many alluring high-flying job offers, his ‘unpopular’ decision to obey the call of God as a full-time missionary, did not only draw the ire of many of their family members and friends, not a few also believed that it was a miscalculated descent to a life of self-confinement, solitude, and self-induced poverty.
This widely-held view was further reinforced, when mayhem began, a full-blown civil war broke out in the Central African Republic, where Michael and Olamide Oluwadara were serving with the Deeper Life Christian Ministry. Many ministries, churches and other foreign organizations were forced to close down, and their foreign workers scurrying back to their respective countries. The odds were clearly staked against Michael, Olamide and their three children born to them in the course of their missionary work in Bangui, their work station, and the capital city of the war-ravaged Central African Republic (CAR).
Their deep conviction in the genuineness of their call, and the need to stay back and fulfil it where God has allotted them, with the active encouragement of Pastor William Folorunso Kumuyi, the General Overseer of the Deeper Life Christian Ministry, eventually not only further enhanced the fulfillment of their divine calls, but also eventually enhanced the completion of the education of their children up to tertiary level in the French-speaking country. This effectively paved the way for Olaoluwa, the subject of this piece to achieve the extraordinary feats mentioned above. This journey to divine blessednesss and stardom indeed started with simple obedience, and every bend and turn on the journey has elicited nothing short of complete obedience.
For the mother, Olamide, "His success should be credited to God only. I think God is only passing a message through our son. I counsel him to remain humble and respectful in all his dealings in life. We will continue to pray for him".
Certainly, man may ignore or forget your labour of all, but God does not, and He will surely reward you in due season.
"For he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a Rewarder of them that diligently seek Him" –Heb.11:6[/size]
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