The 10th convocation of Babcock University, Ilisan-Remo, Ogun State and the inauguration of the institution’s Medical School came to a glorious end on Sunday with a 25-year-old lady and a 20 year-old man setting academic records in the institution, SEGUN OLUGBILE reports

They are two of a kind. They are young and imbued with the spirit of excellence. One is 25 years while the other is just 20 years old. The two, Opeyemi Sodipe and Oladeinbo Gilbert set new records during the 10th convocation of the Babcock University, Ilisan-Remo, Ogun State on Sunday. While Sodipe became the first graduate of Babcock to bag a PhD at 25, Oladeinbo emerged the all-time best graduating student of the institution after scoring a Cumulative Grade Point Average of 4.92 out of a possible 5.0. Sodipe bagged a PhD in Business Information while Oladeinbo got a degree in Law.

Their stories, as they narrated them to our correspondent after they received their awards, were as moving as they were motivational. Sodipe who was accompanied to the convocation ground by her parents had a bad academic start. She was a dullard until an incident changed this when she was in JSS3 at King’s International School, Moniya, Ibadan, Oyo State.




“I cannot describe myself as an average student when I was in primary and junior secondary school. I was a dullard. But this changed when our literature teacher in JSS 3 gave us a test and I failed woefully. The infuriated teacher while distributing our scripts just threw my own at my face and abused me. She called me olodo (an academic non-performer) and I was greatly embarrassed in front of my classmates. I wept till I reached home,” she stated.

On getting home, she told her mother about the ‘perceived insult,’ unleashed on her by her teacher. But thinking that her mother would sympathise with her, she scolded her too.

“She later encouraged me to buckle up. She said my teacher’s action should be seen as a wake-up call. I took the advice and prayed to God to give me wisdom that night and everything changed when I got to SS1. I always emerged as one of the best in my class till I left the school in 2002,” she said.

Since then, the Ake, Abeokuta, Ogun State-born lady, has not looked back. She gained admission to BU in September 2002 and graduated in 2006 as the best graduating student in her class.

“None of us made first class in my class that year but I made a strong second class upper with a CGPA of 4.4 to bag a degree in Information Science,” she added.

From there, Sodipe proceeded to the University of Ibadan for her Master’s degree in Information Science. At UI, she did well as she emerged the second best graduating student with a score of 69 in 2010. The best graduating student in her class then made 69.9.

“I enrolled for the Master’s degree at UI after the completion of the mandatory National Youth Service Corps scheme at the Federal University of Technology, Minna, Niger State,’’ she added.

Asked what her future ambition was, the third in a family of four said, she would love to become a professor. “I love teaching just like my mother. Even some of my classmates during my undergraduate days recognised this talent in me as they always referred to me as a professor,” she said.

Luckily for her, the university has a scheme where first class graduates of the institution are encouraged to take up teaching. Sodipe has been offered a job as an assistant lecturer in the university.

Her proud father, Mr. David Sodipe, and mother, Deborah, who accompanied her to the convocation, said that God’s grace, discipline and sacrifice on their part were responsible for their daughter’s feat.

“I, as the father, got admission to the university at age 24. I’m happy that my own daughter has obtained a PhD at 25. She has shown that quality since she was in secondary school. But whatsoever she has achieved is due to God’s grace,” he said.

Sodipe, an accountant with the Dangote, however, said he had no regret because his daughter was not taking after his professional path.

He said, “I’m an accountant and she has chosen to be a teacher like her mother though at the high level. I’m happy for her. I don’t believe that parents should force children to do courses that they don’t love. I give my children the freedom to make their choice.”

Speaking on her contributions to the educational development of her daughter, her mother said as a primary school teacher, she was always encouraged all her four children to read, adding that she always praying for their success.

“I know that she is going to end up as a teacher because she has all the qualities of a good teacher. May be she takes those qualities from me but I’m happy for her. She has made us proud,” Sodipe, who is now the Headmistress of St. John Anglican Primary School, Molete, Ibadan, said.

Narrating his own story, the all-time best graduating student said the path to his academic success was full of thorns.

“It was not easy. You know that nothing good comes easy. But I’m grateful to God and my mum for the support. However, let me say that I did not plan to emerge as the best graduating student let alone shattering the record,” Oladeinbo who had his secondary school education at Citizens Comprehensive School, Lagos, said.

He added that though he was not competing with anybody in his class, some of his course-mates including Orebiyi Tomisin and Fisayo Adesanmi gave him the needed academic push.

Oladeinbo aspires to become a legislator that will make law for the betterment of the people.

“By the grace of God, I want to become the nation’s Senate President or Speaker, House of Representative later in life. But as a lawyer, I’ll like to become an uncorruptible judge in the next 10 years,” he said.

But the convocation was not just about these two brainy people, the university also celebrated 60 other students who obtained first class degrees in various disciplines among the 1,370 that graduated on Sunday,

Giving a breakdown of the graduates, the President/Vice-Chancellor of the institution, Prof. Kayode Makinde, said that 1,107 had second class upper degrees while the remaining 202 made second class lower degrees in various disciplines. None of the graduating students made third class or ordinary passes.

At the postgraduate level, Makinde said that 98 graduates were conferred with various degrees. This, he said, included 11 who were conferred with postgraduate diplomas and 68 Master’s degrees in various disciplines.

He added that 17 of the graduates including Sodipe were awarded PhD degrees in various disciplines.

However, the university also used the occasion of the 10th convocation to inaugurate its School of Medicine named after the renowned physician, Dr. Benjamin S. Carson Sr.

The medical school has 37 pioneer students including three foreign nationals.

Makinde, in an interview with journalists after the ceremony, said this was so because the academic programme of the institution was structured such that no student could be academically lazy.

He admonished the graduating students to live up to the expectation of the founding fathers of the university.

Makinde said, “Let me say that all of you have been endowed with first-class minds, having gone through a unique training experience which not only makes you employable regardless of your class of degree but very soon employers of labour and visionary leaders,” he said.

Dignitaries at the ceremony included the renowned surgeon, Dr. Ben Carson Sr; Chancellor, BU, Dr. Gilbert Wari; the Registrar, Mr. Hakeem Smith; Pro-Chancellor, NU, Dr. Oyeleke Owolabi, parents, relations and lecturers of the institution.

Career Highlights: World Heavyweight Champion; WWE Champion; U.S. Champion; World Tag Team Champion; WWE Tag Team Champion; 2008 Royal Rumble Winner; 2010 Superstar of the Year Slammy Award winner

For more than two decades, The Deadman has loomed over the WWE landscape like a menacing shadow, spelling out doom for those who dare cross him. Imbued with seemingly mystical abilities and preternatural in-ring ability, The Undertaker is a WWE great in a class by himself, and no list of legends would be complete without him.

First introduced at 1990’s Survivor Series, The Phenom debuted as the final member of Ted DiBiase's "Million Dollar Team." It wasn’t long before he began to battle with Hulk Hogan, then at the top of the food chain in WWE. This clash set the tone for Undertaker’s dominant career. No one was too big and no one was safe from his gloved grip.

A multiple WWE and World Heavyweight Champion, a six-time tag team titleholder and a Royal Rumble winner in 2007, Undertaker’s accomplishments in WWE have cemented his place among the greatest in the game. But it is one achievement that stands out above all others; one that is likely never to be topped. Since Tombstoning “Superfly” Jimmy Snuka at WrestleMania VII in 1991, Undertaker has enjoyed a winning streak at The Show of Shows that stands at an astounding 20-0. Shawn Michaels, Triple H, Jake “The Snake” Roberts, Randy Orton, Kevin Nash and many more have fallen at The Deadman’s hand, leaving the WWE Universe to believe that this record will perhaps never be blemished for the rest of time.

A true, in-ring pioneer, The Undertaker has also been part of many WWE firsts, including the inaugural Hell in a Cell Match in October 1997, the first-ever Casket Match at Survivor Series 1992 and the first-ever Buried Alive match in 1996.

In the face of all challenges, The Phenom has risen stronger and mightier than ever, serving as sports-entertainment’s grim reaper of justice – his name permanently etched like an epitaph on the history books of WWE. It seems that no grave can hold him; no god will claim him and no devil will have him. In the end, there can only be one suitable resting place for the almighty Deadman: the WWE Hall of Fame.

nkem kalu u r da bomb dat boko haram use, OMG u r very upto date

am loving this tread joor

i would have wish a "NO HOLDS BARRED" match between Ryback and Brock Lesnar, before Brock Lesnar's quit, it would have been a matcho

you can follow john cena on twitter @johncena

WWE fan for life

probably: . Pls give me detailed gist of "end of an era" match. I missed wrestlemania 28

go and buy the DVD or visit www.wwe.com for full details

Nigeria and South Africa are the two African countries with the highest number of reported fraud cases.

This was disclosed by the inaugural Africa Fraud Barometer initiated by KPMG to measure fraud on the African continent and expose the risk of fraud for companies in their day-to-day operations.

The report, however, revealed that fewer cases of fraud were reported in the two countries in the second half of 2011, while Zimbabwe had the highest value of perpetrated frauds, amounting to over $1.2bn.

The report also found that cases of fraud in the continent increased from 355 in the first half of 2011 to 520 cases in the second half of the year. This represents an increase of 46.4 per cent.

However, the value of fraud decreased from $7.17bn to $3.702bn in the same period.

KPMG’s Global Leader for Forensics, who developed the barometer to form a bigger picture of fraud prevalence in Africa, Mr. Petrus Marais, said.

According to him, the barometer distinguishes between the number of reported fraud cases, type of perpetrators, victims, type of fraud, countries and targeted industries, with the data currently available capturing the entire 2011.

Accounting for 29 per cent of perpetrators, company employees committed the most fraud during the second half of 2011, the report revealed. This represents an increase of two per cent from the first six months of the year.[b][/b]

sunshine4c: 2 ma childish knowledge. I do not kn y ppl were happy wen sum1contest 4 a post and also-ran. It's unfair. Let us collaborate 2 move dis country higher, rather than to condem others. Rem that we are born to reign... I am very sorry if my words aggravatin you. One love

pls be sorry for yourself, read before you talk and learn before write,if you can not make sense go and sell kwakwa.

www.dartmouth.edu/~president/bio/ for your information

afam4eva:

What has the past presidents of world bank achieved for the world bank? I guess you don't know. The fcat that she's been part of the world bank means that she was integral to whatever the bank achieved within that period. Btw, what has Kim achieved for Darthmout university?

Am so sorry that Ngozi have to loose, but come to think about it, of what importance is Ngozi to this position? firstly, she has fallen simultaneously since her involvement in Nigeria politics, by using her own company to front in debt cancellation and thereby showing her personal interest which makes her a global brand of corruption, secondly, the removal of fuel subsidy that was not duly implemented, under her watch made her even more corrupt in person and of no trust worthy intentions, thirdly, of all known fact; in what way(s) has she ever been of person good to anybody or a group of people, "no charity, no love for man kind" [i][/i]there is nothing anywhere that she (Ngozi Okonjo Iweala) can point to as personal initiative without personal interest involved. I beg to submit that it is a LOST well deserve, Take your time on trip through the antecedents of Jim and see his personal preparation for greatness since 2009.

of a truth, go and do a DNA test for those kids, we never can tell, they may not be your afterall.

from the news reaching me just now, yobe state is presently boilling, churches are being burnt,many xtians killed, pls pray and confirm.

until its completion i remain

Ileke-IdI:
What an ugly man. chaiii!!

Omotola, forever sexy!!

worworchious ediot, i dont blame u its ur blindness.

so could this be what they use the national housing fund for? whereas the payee wallow in abject poverty living in the most obscure places within the country. more submission is needed please.

In its bid to address the housing needs of the Nigerian citizenry, the National Housing Funds scheme was established by the Federal Government by Decree 2 of 1992. The scheme encourages workers to contribute 2.5% of their basic salary into the fund to be used to grant mortgage loans to them at very concessionary terms for the purchase, building, expansion or renovation of their houses,but house we dint see money we cant access.

please house i need these cleared as fast as possible, i thought over the national housing fund that is been deducted from workers salary every month and i wonder where precisely is this money going to and for what exactly is it ment for, from indications the federal government is the largest employer of labour in Nigeria today,and that amount to about 50million+ of Nigeria populace, and currently the sum of #1,800:00 is been deducted from a level 7 step 3 officer and this varies as the rank increases, taking the calculation, now imagine about 20million nigerians in that level and multiply it by 1,800 its about 36billion naira a month for only that level,this deduction has started from time immemorial, and it seems no one cares, its not only in pensions we have scam, could this be a scam too?

who are the people that constitute this forum, this is shear aboki intuition, it can not have a sucessful ending