The man who set the first record ever to graduate with a perfect 5.0
cumulative grade average in Psychology from UNILAG has shared his
incredible story of success.
Ayodele Daniel Dada, 29, made history in the University of Lagos as
the first student with the best result ever by scoring a Cumulative
Grade Point Average (CGPA) of 5.00 to emerge the institution’s overall
best graduating student for the 2014/2015 academic session.
Since his phenomenal achievement, Dada has been showered with
praises and awards for his feat. He has shared his experience how he got
to the enviable level of class. Dada explained that he set his eyes on
the goal to prove whether indeed it was achievable.
According to The Nation, he said he achieved it by setting small goals of doing well each semester.
“I remember when I started Psychology somebody said it is
impossible to get a 5.00 in a university. And then I said ‘let’s test
how strong that impossibility is’. That is not to say that I am the most
courageous person in the world but I believe in testing the resolve of
impossibility. Let’s see how strong they have earned the right to
remain; let’s test their will to survive,” he said.
He was described by his Vice Chancellor (VC), Prof Rahamon Bello, as “the wonder boy” during Tuesday’s convocation. He congratulated him on “setting a record for others to meet”.
Prof Solomon Akinboye, Dean of Postgraduate School, and Prof Samuel
Iyiola Oni, Dean, Faculty of Social Sciences, acknowledged that Dada
must have worked hard to earn the score.
Underscoring the achievement, Akinboye said: “This person has
broken a record, not only in the faculty but in UNILAG by making 5.0.
This means ‘A’s all through – including the GS courses, so it is
monumental,” he said.
Oni said Dada brought honour and fame to him as dean, the
department, and others. “It is not an easy task. There must have been
an element of hard work,” he said.
Dada described his story of success as one full of ups and downs.
Dada said he first had to fight a battle at home for choosing a course
his parents never liked. He mentioned the financial challenges, and his
love for Psychology.
“I wasn’t always the best academically while growing up but I
was always among the best. There were many challenges, financial and
otherwise. My family was not always on good terms with me. I was not
always seen as the best child or the one they were always proud of in my
family. For example, a course like Psychology is not well-known or
recommended, and most parents want their children to do things that are
main stream like engineering, law, medicine, etc. So when I told my
parents I wanted to study psychology, it took a lot of efforts to
convince them that this is what I want to do and I can do it well."
He said choosing Psychology was because of his fascination with the human mind and his curiosity to know.
He said: “All through my life, I have been fascinated about how
people think and I realised that once I enter any book store, the first
thing my eye catches would be a book on or related to Psychology. I
cared about the mind and I could be devoted to those books for hours,
when others would have got tired of it. So that informed my choice of
studying psychology.
“Conformity is a terrible thing when you allow it to guide you.
Conformity never breeds excellent people. You must be ready to do
things differently and see the world in a different view from others.
You will have opposition but if you are ready to make the necessary
sacrifices, challenge what everyone says is impossible, test the result
of impossibilities, ask questions and always listen, you will get it
right. Listen, focus and be ready to learn from anybody. When I ask my
colleagues to explain things to me sometimes, they would feel they are
not in the position to but I let them know that I can learn from them
too,” he said.
Prof Ibinabo Agiobu-Kemmer, Head of Psychology Department,
congratulated the pace-setter for the achievement and says more people
will follow after him. The Prof however condemned the act by some
lecturers who are in the habit of cheating students when it comes to
grading.
She said: “One person in church instead of congratulating me
said people were saying that we did ojoro (cheated). How can we? All
of us stumbled on the 5.0, I think after their third year – even in the
Board of Studies I think – and I said ‘wow, here is somebody scoring
5.0.’ And all of us differently… we did not know. I want to thank my
colleagues and teachers in the department of Psychology that you saw
excellence and rewarded it and appropriately graded it.
“Ayodele, you are not the first that would attain this. I have
heard of one or two other candidates who were very close. But some
lecturers gave them a B. The lady said, ‘no but I got an A in this
course.’ But the lecturer said: ‘You want to get everything?’ Even in
the last one year, when we all discovered, we were praying that he would
make it. I am sure they have checked to see whether we made a mistake
somewhere.”
Dada's classmates praised him for the exemplary approach to studies
he exhibited and the great feat he achieved. Olalekan Sulaimon, his
classmate said he learnt from his achievement that anything is possible.
“I learnt from Ayo’s achievement that impossibility is nothing.
Anything is possible. He is a social person to a reasonable extent.
Seventy per cent of his time is devoted to his studies and the remaining
30 per cent he split among various social and spiritual aspects. He is
always ready to teach people and he gets very happy when the person he
is teaching understands.”
The stage is now set for Dada to take the world by storm with his
success story as it will serve as a source of inspiration for many.
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