Exclusive: Being The Best Requires A Great Deal Of Perseverance - OAU Diamond Jubilee Best Graduating Student

Olabode Oluwafemi

With a 4.89 CGPA, Ohanekwu Favour Ebuka emerged as the overall best graduating student of Obafemi Awolowo University in the just-concluded convocation. In this exclusive interview with OAU Kilonshele, the Electronic & Electrical Engineering graduate talked about his journey in school - the step he took to achieve this feat, among other things. 

Q: was Electronic Electrical Engineering your choice right from the start ?

Ans: yes, I have always loved Electronic and Electrical Engineering. It's a field that piqued my interest at a very young age.

Q: same thing with OAU as as well?

Ans: not really. My elder brother was solely behind that choice. 

 Q: ever think you were going to emerge as the best graduating student ?

Ans: I wasn't particularly expecting it. Coming to OAU, my goal was to graduate with a first-class and a good CGPA.

Q: how did you feel when you realised there was the probability of you emerging as the best graduating student and even when it was finally announced ?

Ans: when I realized I could emerge as the best, I was much more motivated to put in my best and stay as focused as I have always been. Getting to know that I was the best graduating student (a day before the convocation), I was very much excited about it knowing how proud my parents, siblings, and friends will be about this feat. At that moment, I remembered Fatile Emmanuel, a good friend of mine who used to casually talk about me being the best graduating student. He passed on during our third year in school, he will forever remain in my heart. He was a student of the faculty of Pharmacy.

Ohanekwu Favour Ebuka poses poses with a 100,000 Naira cheque

Q: you bagged 9 awards with a CGPA of 4.89/5.0. What were the strategies you fashioned out that made you attain this feat? 

Ans: first and foremost I am grateful to God for crowning my effort with good success. This couldn’t have been possible without Him. I believe that achievements like this require a great deal of hard work, discipline, and consistency. 

The effects of friends with similar goals cannot be over-emphasized. I had amazing friends who were equally focused and highly driven.

Q: does that mean your circle of friends influence your grades ?

Ans: yes. I have always been a team player. I study with my friends, solve problems with them, and also learn a lot from them.

 Q: what was your study or reading pattern? 

Ans: I did not have a clear-cut study pattern nor a fixed number of hours for studying. I had a few key performance indicators that drove how much time I spent reading.

Q: "for sport and struggle." OAU anthem will always say likewise the students will always stress, how was the struggle ?

Ans: just like the popular saying in OAU, "the struggle is real". There were a lot of moments that required a great deal of perseverance. These moments define great men and I am glad to have gone through these, prevailing in the end.

Q: what were the challenges you faced while in school ?

Ans: being able to balance my academics with other areas of my life was a big challenge for me, although with time I got used to the system and was able to do better at striking a balance. Also, poor sleep habits, like having an irregular sleep schedule was a challenge I faced in school which at some point led to heightened stress and fatigue.

Q: Did you maintain a high CGPA from your first year at OAU? and What motivated you? 

Ans: yes, I started out with a 5.0/5.0 CGPA in my first year. Before getting into the university, I had gone through  OAU’s predegree program, where I emerged as the best in the CMP (Chemistry, Mathematics and Physics) combination. 

I believe that success itself drives one to do more. This feat, coupled with my goal to graduate with a first class and a good CGPA  motivated me to give my best.

Q: Aside Electronic and electrical engineering, what else do you enjoy? 

Ans: I love music a lot. Music makes me happy.

Q: What's your advice to young minds who wants to achieve great feat academically? 

Ans: Put your best into it. Hard work, discipline and consistency are very important qualities required to attain academic excellence.

Another very important thing is “knowing what works for you and sticking to it”. What works for one, may not work for another.