Legal luminary Chief Afe Babalola is one proud man today. And Adesola Akomolafe, the pioneer valedictorian of the Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD) is one of the reasons he holds his head high.
On Monday, the 20-year-old led the honours roll of 103 pioneer students who graduated after three and a half years of hard work at ABUAD with a Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of 4.89 in Accounting.
For her feat, she won three academic prizes: The Overall Best Graduating Student; Overall Best Graduating Student in the College of Social Sciences and Management, the Prof Sidi Osho Prize for the Best Graduating Student, and a car – courtesy of the Executive Director, Vital Medix Incorporation, Mr Bimbo Owolabi.
Adesola also got a handshake from President Goodluck Jonathan, who was at the institution to inaugurate the new College of Engineering building.
He was told of her exploits as she presented him with the pair of gold scissors he used to cut the tape.
“I’ve just been told that the young lady who handed me this scissors is the best graduating student of this university. I consider this an honour; it gladdens my heart and it is a testimony that there is always a reward for hard work. Congratulations lady,” he said.
Aare Babalola also celebrated Adesola, who hails from Ijede-Ekiti, for her hard work, a treasured virtue in ABUAD.
He described her as a ‘pride’ and an ‘asset’, adding that she has also enjoyed the university’s scholarship scheme for outstanding students.
“Adesola has made me and this university proud. She has also demonstrated that hard work pays. All through her undergraduate days, she demonstrated passion for work and she is also well cultured. For this, I congratulate her and her parents,” he said.
Her parents were, indeed, proud of her. “This is good news for us,” said her father, Mr Obafemi Akomolafe, an engineer.
He added: “Everybody dreams to, one day, have a close contact or a handshake with the President of his country as a thing of pride. Today, our daughter not only met President Jonathan one-on-one but also shook hands with him, something we her parents have always dreamed of. What greater thing should we ask from God, again?”
Growing up, Adesola had always been brilliant. She earned a double promotion from Primary Four to Six at the Gloryland Nursery and Primary School in Ejigbo, Lagos. She also excelled in her Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE), earning distinction in science subjects. In fact, her mother, Mrs Olayinka Akomolafe, said she chose when to start school.
“Aside her brilliance, one thing I noticed from her childhood is that she always does things beyond her age. For instance, she indicated her interest to start school herself. As my youngest daughter, she used to follow her two older brothers to school with their nanny.
“One day, she went with them and refused to return home. I had to personally go to school to find out from the headmistress what the problem was. It was then the headmistress told me my daughter wanted to start school. Right there, we had to get her passports, and buy her uniform and books. That was how she started school,” Mrs Akomolafe said.
Adesola’s fate may have turned in another direction, had she yielded to her parents’ – particularly her mother’s desire for her to study Medicine. Mrs Akomolafe said her daughter loved to read her nursing books and even share the knowledge with her friends in school. Adesola also helped her manage her chemist.
While practising as a nurse in the United Kingdom, Mrs Akomolafe used to send medical-related literatures to stimulate Adesola’s interest with the hope that she would study medicine.
She said: “I used to run a chemist shop then. Sola understudied me and before I knew it, she knew the prices of all the drugs. She would sell to customers whenever I was not around. She even began to prescribe drugs to customers that complained of one thing or the other. Initially, some of them considered her too young and risky to yield to her prescriptions but when they later realised it’s the same thing I always recommended for them, then they believed in her even when I was not around. It was at that point I thought my daughter should study Medicine,” she said.
But the precocious girl had a mind of her own. She chose to study Accounting and applied for it in the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) form in 2009.
From the start, Adesola said she was determined to succeed. When she set foot on ABUAD in company of her father and her octogenarian grandmother, Mrs Rachael Faromika on January 4, 2010, Adesola said she already set her priorities right.
“I had already determined my attitude to my studies, and the company to keep. All I wanted was to do the right course and make my parents proud. I chose Accounting because I want to be globally relevant. Like Medicine which is for humans, Accounting is for corporate bodies. In the administration of corporate bodies, you need an accountant; and even when companies are winding down, you still need them,” she said.
But Adesola had no Accounting background as a science student in secondary school; hence, she was afraid of calculations. However, that was not enough to stop her.
She said: “I wasn’t so grounded in Maths, but I was determined to start picking interest in calculation,” she said, adding, “I studied harder, concentrated more in class. Most times, I got to class earlier than my colleagues and lecturers. I always wanted to be more relaxed before lecture starts. I was determined not to be bullied by anybody or yield to sidetalks. All I want is to be a good accountant.
“My lecturers were also cooperative and encouraging. They advised me to sit for ATS (Accounting Technician Scheme). This helped me a lot because while studying for my ATS, I learned some of those things in Accounting that were skipped in class. Besides, Accounting has taught me a lot about speed, integrity and accuracy.”
Adesola credits her grandmother, Mrs Faromika with her success. She described the retired head teacher as her greatest inspiration.
“She was taking care of us while Mum was in the UK. My grandmother is a strict disciplinarian. She encourages me to be patient even when things are bad. She is the one who inspired me to be a lecturer because I want to change the face of education. She always makes us understand that teachers are leaders. In fact, everything she demonstrates convinces me that teachers of old are better than teachers of today,” Adesola said.
For the octogenarian grandmother, Monday was a day for smiles as she shared many shots with her granddaughter. “Thank you! Thank You! God bless you all,” was all she could manage as she posed triumphantly beside her granddaughter when she sat in the driver’s seat of the new car amid cheers from an excited crowd.
Adesola is preparing for the final ICAN Professional Examination (PE 1), in November. After her mandatory National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), her Masters and Ph.D come next, she told this reporter.
“But if you were offered a teaching job in ABUAD, would you accept?” she was asked.
“I will gladly accept it,” she responded. “This is a university where lecturers develop a synergy with students and may even go out of their way to offer assistance when need be. In some schools, most lecturers don’t care about teaching methodology or attitude to work. They just teach because of salary. I want to teach people and dedicate my time to transforming them as better individuals. My grandmother tells us always that teachers are leaders, so, I want to lead.”
