A 60-year-old man named Farouk Sanni who enrolled in the university after he retired has graduated from the University of Ibadan with a bachelor’s degree and was awarded 8 awards as the best-graduating student of his department.
Farouk Sanni bagged his bachelor’s degree in Sociology at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria after he retired as a banker. He graduated from the university with first-class honors and was the best-graduating student of his class.
He said in an interview with Vanguard that he finally felt accomplished studying sociology as it satisfied his quest to understand why people behave the way they do. The sociology degree is the second bachelor’s degree Sanni will be earning.
He earned his first bachelors degree in Accounting at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria, a degree he said his uncle imposed on him. Sanni then proceeded to the University of Liverpool, London to earn a master’s degree in International Management.
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Sanni said he had to write JAMB to be admitted to study sociology at the same time as his son who is currently studying Law at the same University of Ibadan. He mentioned that studying in the same class with colleagues who are the same age as his children was challenging but he remained determined.
“Studying in a class where you have those who are of the same age as your children can be very challenging, but I was magnanimous to accommodate what happened,” Sanni said.
”Some called me daddy, some called me Mr Sanni and some will even say, “He may be a daddy, but he is not my father. I experienced a lot of things, but as an old person, I was able to remain focused,” he added.
Talking about his achievement, a lecturer in the Sociology department, Dr Oludayo Tade, said Sanni always had a chair that he tied to a tree, where he read under a tree in the faculty of the social sciences.
“He has two undergraduate children at UI at the moment. Until he graduated, he picked up and dropped off his two children at lecture halls, and most of the time, I met him reading under the tree on Saturday and Sunday,” Dr Oludayo said.
“On Ileya day, I saw him at his usual reading space under a faculty tree, where he had brought a chair tied to the tree to use whenever he came around to read. I asked him jokingly, Alhaji ni Ojo Ileya, and he said, Oga, I have bought everything they need for them. Staying with them will distract me, Sir,” he added.
Sanni is also a certified Chartered accountant, Chartered banker, and a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria. He recently authored a book titled ”My Journey to Making First Class at 60”.
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