Despite engaging in menial work, woman, 34, emerges varsity's all-time best graduate

SEGUN OLUGBILE

The Babcock University, Ilisan-Remo, Ogun State, organised the 9th convocation for 1,022 graduates last Sunday. SEGUN OLUGBILE in this report highlights how a woman, [b]Mrs. Aham-Chiabuotu, [/b]emerged the all-time best graduate of the university, established 12 years ago, with a Cumulative Grade Point Average record of 4.91.


Mrs. Aham-Chiabuotu

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When Mrs. Chidinma Aham-Chiabuotu gained admission to Babcock University in Ilisan-Remo, Ogun State, to pursue a degree course in Public Health, nobody knew she would emerge as the best graduating student. But Aham-Chiabuotu has not only passed out with a first class degree, she did it in style by obtaining a Cumulative Grade Point Average of 4.91 out of a possible 5.0. By this, she has created a new record as the all-time best student to have graduated from the institution established on April 20, 1999.

Sources close to the university's authorities confirmed Aham-Chiabuotu's result as the best so far. But unconfirmed report said that the highest CGPA since the university graduated its pioneer students about nine years ago was 4.79.

Aham-Chiabuotu was the cynosure of all eyes that attended the ninth convocation of the university last Sunday as the sports complex venue of the ceremony erupted with joy immediately she was called to the podium by the institution's Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Kayode Makinde to receive her prize. Other graduates rose up waving their mortarboards in celebration of the brainy woman. Parents and well wishers stood up clapping while the school choir joined the fray singing the popular song, 'Stand Up for the Champion' for the lady born in Umuahia in Umuahia South Local Government Area of Abia State, 34 years ago. She stood smiling, waving her hand to the crowd in appreciation of their applause.

But her road to this enviable record was woven with thorns. She had sat for the West African Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination thrice. She is married and had a husband to take care of. Though she is still trusting God for a baby, she did not allow her marital state to distract her. Her husband, Godspower, a pastor and a teacher at the staff school of the university, has little financial muscle to give her the necessary support. Her father, late Elijah Ukoh, a retired teacher, had also died when she was in primary three at Amaise Central School, Umuobiakwa, in Umuahia South Local Government Area of Abia State. Also, her mother, Dorothy, who retired in 1984 as a teacher could not afford to take care of her seven other siblings, let alone providing money for her university education.

Though she had obtained the Registered Nurse Certificate at the Seventh-Day Adventist School of Nursing Ile-Ife, Osun State and also got the Registered Midwife Certificate from the School of Midwifery, Vom, Plateau State, in 1999 and 2001 respectively, her urge for university education had forced her to abandon her job as a nurse to pursue her ambition.

To cope with the financial challenges on campus, Aham-Chiabuotu had to take up a menial job under the work study initiative of the university. Under the initiative, she worked for 20 hours per week, earning N100 per hour for her efforts. At the end of a semester, she realised about N20, 000 from cleaning the university bursar's office. This also qualified her to enjoy the N40, 000 per semester special part-scholarship of the Seven Day Adventist Church. With this and the little her husband provided, she was able to manage herself through her degree programme.

Speaking with our correspondent after the convocation where1, 022 students were awarded various degrees; the lady said that she actually planned to graduate with a first class degree the very day she gained admission to the institution.

"I never knew that I would set a new record. I owe it all to God. I prayed for it. Making a CGPA of 4.91 took a lot of hard work. I kept my eye on that goal and resisted every distraction. I sacrificed my job, money, clothes, and everything except my relationship with God and my husband.

"Though I did not have enough money for most of my assignments, God was always there for me. Also, I had to struggle to keep the home, do the work-study and meet-up with church activities. Moreover, I had to work extra hard whenever we had group assignments because I knew my goals and I was not willing to allow any unserious group member to bring me down," she said.

She also hinged her performance on the stiff competition she received from her course mates, majority of whom she said, were younger than her. "My course-mates were respectful and they contributed to my success by giving me stiff academic competition. The toughest academic challenger in my class was Aminat Bakare. Her CGPA was 4.89 as at the end of 300 Level. In fact, we had the same CGPA as at that time but in the final year, I braced up and emerged the best," she said.

She, however, poured encomiums on her lecturers, saying they contributed in no small measure to her success. "There was something special about all my lecturers. It is so hard to select who was actually the best. So I had the best set of lecturers anybody could dream of. They were so wonderful and each of them touched my life in ways I am not able to describe," she said.

Asked if she would love to pick up a career in the nation's university system, she said, "Yes, I intend to become a professor because I am a born teacher. My parents lived their lives as teachers and I grew up to love teaching and imparting knowledge to others."

Narrating her academic journey, the woman, who completed her secondary school education at St. Joseph's College, Aba in 1993, said that she felt frustrated when she failed the WASSCE result twice and admission was not forthcoming.

"I wrote WASSCE thrice. After the first two sittings, I made the required five credits required for admission to school of nursing but I did not have credits in Chemistry, Physics and Mathematics. So after my midwifery school, I sat for another WASSCE and cleared all my papers at a sitting," she said.

Asked how she coped with the initial failure to pass the WASSCE, Aham-Chiabuotu said it was not easy, adding that her trust in God and herself saw her through the period.

"Coping with failure was not so easy but I had to put my trust in God. Also, I knew it was not my fault that I failed WASCCE at that time because I had my secondary education when the Nigerian educational system was at its worst level. I was comforted by the confidence I had in the fact that I could do better if I had the right kind of exposure," she said.

Aham-Chiabuotu, who identified moral bankruptcy and corruption as the nation's major challenges, said that if these two were removed, the nation would be the best in the world.

"If the problem of corruption is solved, every other problem will be solved because righteousness exalts a nation but sin is a reproach. We need the fear of God in Nigeria. We need to practise what we preach," she noted.

The lady, who said she was taking the virtues of hard work, fear of God, respect for others, punctuality, independence, hatred for mediocrity and simplicity from Babcock, urged undergraduates to be focussed and diligent if they must succeed in their studies.

"They can make it. They just need to be focussed and trust in the Lord with all their hearts and lean not unto their own understanding. In all their ways, they should acknowledge Him and He shall direct their path. They should also remember that a diligent man will always stand before kings, and not before mean men," she said.

Aham-Chiabuotu also called on the Federal Government to improve the status of nurses and midwives, saying, "There is no need for a registered nurse/midwife to spend four years in a university to earn a degree. The nursing certificate should be placed at the same level as Higher National Diploma certificate."

However, Forty six other graduates made first class, 866 obtained second class upper division while the remaining 109 made second class lower.

The vice-chancellor had in his speech congratulated the graduating students and urged them to forge new paths in life to achieve success. "If you want to achieve extraordinary things in your lives, you must follow your passion and focus on your dreams. You must forge new paths and not simply follow in well-trodden ones. You must strive to endure, but dare to enjoy the journey at every point, remember no sweat, no sweet! No pain, no gain! No cross, no crown!" he said.

Makinde also told the gathering that the university would admit its first set of medical students in September this year.

He expressed the hope that the institution's school of medicine would boost academic programmes tailored towards a full life of dedication to the physical and emotional health needs of Nigerians.

http://odili.net/news/source/2011/jun/14/803.html

Even a truck pusher SEner is as smart as=====================

nice performance,

Fabulous woman

Na so they don dey dash the first class

"I wrote WASSCE thrice. After the first two sittings, I made the required five credits required for admission to school of nursing but I did not have credits in Chemistry, Physics and Mathematics. So after my midwifery school, I sat for another WASSCE and cleared all my papers at a sitting," she said.

Can do spirit indeed.

Even Becomrichn had 6 A1s his first time without studying. Talk about Yoruba smartness!