A 26-year-old Nigerian man named Olabode Williams Jolomi who sold fish to sponsor his university education has bagged a 4.94 first-class degree at the Ekiti State University, Nigeria.
He was also awarded a 1.25 million naira worth of cash prize as the best-graduating student.
Olabode obtained his bachelor’s degree in Forest Resources and Wildlife Management with an outstanding 4.94 over a possible 5.00 cumulative grade point despite his financial challenges.
He mentioned as reported by Campus News that he started selling fish in his second year to support his parents to pay for his academics.“I started selling fish from 200 level to 400 level because of financial challenges and to help my parents support my academics,” he said.
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Olabode added that at some point, he organized tutorials for his coursemates and other students in his department, but he stopped because of the undisclosed problems he encountered.
While a student, he was very active in other activities aside from his academics. Olabode mentioned that he joined students’ politics on campus as he has a desire for politics.
He contested for president at the Nigerian Association of Agricultural Students (NASS) but failed and could not emerge. Determined, Olabode contested for the post of President at the International Forestry Students’ Association (IFSA) and won.
“I later contested for the post of President at the International Forestry Students’ Association (IFSA) and won. I was the first executive president of the association to win an award for my department,” he said.
He stated that an application was opened to hold an event to promote awareness of forestry in Africa which was sponsored by IFSA and the International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO), a joint task force on forestry education.
“In the application, we submitted a proposal to hold the event in EKSU and, among other Universities that were selected, IFSA-EKSU under my administration was one of them, and a prize of 230,000 was sent to the association’s account after the event,” he said.
Olabode was awarded N250,000 for being the best-graduating student by an alumnus of the university. He was also presented one million naira by another alumnus for his efforts and contribution to the university community.
Olabode said he plans to further his education with a master’s degree abroad. He advises young learners to be focused and determined and set goals for themselves and at the same time, they should not let their background or who they are, affect their pursuit.
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