When the news hit the media that a student (now Graduate)
of the University of Lagos was finishing with a 5.0 CGPA, it was quite
surprising. 5.0 from a Federal University? Woah!
Questions were asked - How did he do it? Has he always been a genius? Because it takes a dedicated person to excel in such a way. Linda Ikeji Blog decided to Interview him, not only to celebrate his outstanding academic excellence but to also shed light on his journey and hopefully inspire others. From how Jamb cancelled his result because they felt he cheated and more, Ayodele gives an exclusive insight into his life. Read after the cut...
•LIB: Introduction/Background
I am Ayodele Daniel Dada. As you know, I convocated from
the Department of Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of
Lagos. I am the first child of my Parents. We are just two. I just have
one other sibling - A Brother. We hail from Ekiti State. My Dad is an
Accountant (retired now) and my mum is a teacher. She has been a teacher
for a while now, over 20 years. I'm someone who has a passion for
understanding people. I think that was why I was drawn to Psychology. I
don't just want to understand people but I also want to help them and
add value to their lives in which ever way I can. For me, it's all about
people, I care a lot about people. Generally as a person, my
personality is not the highly outgoing type. I'm more reserved.
Religiously, I'm a Christian. I have a Strong Belief in God and He's a
big part of my Affairs. I take God seriously and He figures in all my
plans.
•LIB: How was your Primary and Secondary School academic life like? Where you a Genius from the very start?
As I have said publicly, I do not believe I am a Genius. I
have never really considered myself a Genius and there are several
reasons for that. Yes from primary school I had always been intelligent.
Primary school was a period where I tried to enhance my knowledge of
the world. My Dad used to encourage us to learn more about politics,
geography, civic knowledge and all the things that make you
distinguished amongst others and more enlightened people. During my
primary school education, I was sometimes on top of my class, other
times, not so much. I wasn't always the top student in Primary School
but i was always known to be at least in the Top five percent. Secondary
school - The same transpired. I was Sometimes at the top - maybe for a
year or two, other times I would be 2nd or 3rd, then I'll go back again
to the Top. The thing was Generally, there were areas that I always had
interest in and I would always give my best. And when I really cared
about something, I remember clearly that I was totally unbeatable at it.
If I really wanted to do something, It may have just been a subject I
really liked, I just have to focus a while lot on it. If I like it and I
can do it well, I would do something really remarkable at it. That's
how my early schooling and academic life was until University Level.
•LIB: What was your Jamb/Post UTME score? & How did you gain entry into the University of Lagos?
Okay. Now this Degree I just got began in an interesting
way. When I did the UTME Exam, I believed that I had done well. There
are exams you write and you are certain of your performance. I went as
far as taking my scripts home and cross checking with textbooks and
other sources (also online). I knew for a fact that there was no way I
could score below 300/400. But then Low and behold, I got a message when
I was trying to check the result, that my result was cancelled because I
must have cheated in the exam. I was Devastated and I felt so sad and I
just thought - Okay, What do I do? I had to complain. I had to get
people to just plead my case, visit the office and get feed back on what
was the next step to take to rectify the situation. It was stretching
on and on & I didn't really fancy that long winding process. So I
tried to figure out what the next option was. Some people just felt I
should do ahead and take the diploma/foundation programme and I did
that. But it was difficult because I am not from a rich home. My parents
are not rich. So to just come up with the amount of money needed to pay
for the programme on short notice, you know we had just a two week
window to make the payment and it was very challenging for us. I has to
go round and meet close family friends who were willing to help and
showed some concern. They really came around to pull their weight on my
behalf at that time and I was able to cover all the fees I needed. I did
the program and my aggregate score was the highest in the faculty. That
was how I gained admission to study psychology.
•LIB: What was 100 Level like? Did you have a plan/goal set from the beginning?
Now it wasn't as though I had a plan because all I just
wanted to do, God helping me, was the best everyday. The best i could do
everyday and it meant I was going to take every small task seriously. I
never really left anything to chance. I never let things slide. I was
keen on just pushing and striving hard. So that even when people might
be tempted to give up, for example, you're tired at the day, There is a
class, it's towards the evening time and there is also a test,
assignment and a write-up to prepare and people are tired, of course I
would also be tired but I felt that it was really the test of our
mettle... If we can soldier on through those difficult times, we will
succeed. I was determined to keep on doing well even when it seemed
impossible and I had wonderful people around me who also encouraged me. I
had fantastic lecturers who were like parents to me. I has colleagues
who were wonderful people that understood collaboration. It really
helped. It was the right climate to develop and really achieve more. My
Head of Department - Prof. Agiobu-Kemmer encouraged achievement and
rewarded High levels of excellence. So that created a right climate and
for me. I knew that Yes! I could really achieve great things here. It
wasn't as if I wanted to just get perfect scores...but if one does the
right thing everyday, within the right context & climate, it adds up
and becomes something wonderful in the long run.
•LIB: Who is your role model in life? Someone that motivated you to excel.
I would say my role model in Psychology is a man known as
Prof. Robert Sternberg. He was once the HOD of Psychology in Yale. He
just Inspired me. I have read quite a number of his books and I think he
is just an example of brilliance with the way he writes and the way he
communicates. He got me more fascinated with the subject of Psychology.
Outside Psychology, I really like Brian Tracy. To me, he is a wonderful
character. Someone who was able to defy a number of odds and achieve
something remarkable with himself. He is a great person from my
interaction with his work. I have been opportuned to watch videos of him
and I really think he's a remarkable individual. For me, these are the
people I identify with.
•LIB: What Challenges did you face in the University Of Lagos?
There would always be challenges but I believe that my
relationship or the relationships I had with the people around me,
especially lecturers and colleagues, was Good. We all had a good
rapport. I observed that no matter how difficult other students say a
certain lecturer is, there is always some thing that is very wonderful
about the person and that is what we should emphasise and encourage. I
believe that most times, when we start out with an adversarial bias, we
just want to regard the lecturer from the perspective of an enemy or we
want to just see the person that way, the person in question would
fulfill our expectations. It is actually a product of psychological
research. When you expect the best of people, they live up to your
expectations. They actually respond in kind and meet those virtues you
expect them to hold. For me, I look at most people and try to see the
best in them. From this perspective, I discovered that my lecturers are
actually good people and I treated them that way. They also thought well
of me because they saw that I cared about the subject matter of
Psychology and they saw that first before deciding that I really really
admired, respected them and appreciated their efforts in sharing their
knowledge with me. So it works both ways. Lecturers are human beings as
well and if you respect people, yes, they would treat you with the
respect that you have treated them with.
•LIB: Did you ever doubt yourself in any way?
Of course. There were times when I doubted that it was
possible but I just felt that it was necessary and important to make the
effort to be better everyday. And that is the right condition that God
would bless. Because many people go out of their way to pray to God to
bless them but God doesn't see them give the due diligence. God cares
about us sowing the seed and doing as much as we can, giving it our best
shot and believing that our efforts would prosper. So that for me is
what i believe worked in my favour. There were times I doubted, there
were times I was worried but I just faced my mind on the important
things. I just had to be the best. I have to improve because it is not
enough to score an A one semester and think, oh fine! We are Good, We
have arrived and it's all wonderful and smooth sailing. I thought that
if the A is like a 78, some people would be like Good Job but for me, if
I had a 78 in this course, why don't I have an 80 something next time.
For me, I kept on trying to push and do more and be better. God actually
appreciates that. God sees people who strive to be excellent and God
says yes, you've done your part and I would also ensure that you're able
to do what you want to do. That's my own philosophy. There were tears
but God helped me outreach them.
•LIB: Where you involved in Extra - Curricular Activities?
I had a fair social life. I went to the Cinemas (Ozone)
quite a number of times, including with friends and most of the friends
were girls because almost all my friends are female. I love movies and
there was a time I was the person who you got the most current TV series
from. I also attended Birthday Parties, some even into the night. I
participated in quite a few things. While I didn't run for political
positions, I endorsed people and also supported them. I also
participated in other things including Google AD-Works Campaign that I
played a part in at some point and there was a seminar called - Impact
Your World Leadership Initiative. It's a group that conducts seminars
for leaders in the University. They came around and I participated and
won the contest organised. I also organised symposium for my colleagues.
I headed the committee for the symposium and we were able to invite
Lanre Olushola & Bankole Williams to speak to our colleagues in the
Psychology Department. It was really a full experience for me. I didn't
just lock myself away in one corner studying all the while.
•LIB: Word of Advice to Undergraduates and Others aspiring for Academic Excellence.
Yes I do have. I have said it considerably that there is a
great deal of conformity within the system. There is a great deal of
conformity in the world. There is so much lack of direction in students,
especially in the University. You find students who are just drifting
without a clear sense of who they really are. They are easily misled by
their peers who also lack a sense of direction and just do things on the
whim. Everything for them is spontaneous. I believe that students
should understand that you have to know yourself. What resonates to you?
What is within you? What strikes a cord with you as far as your studies
are concerned? What would be the best feat for you especially as you
study and strive to acquire great things? It has to be something that
you can do for free. Sometimes I would tutor others for four to five
hours at a stretch, just to tutor them in Psychology and I was doing it
continuously. I'll just stand and talk to them as a group. I'll check my
watch and be so surprised that I've spent that much time and I did not
even realise it because it's something I'm really passionate about. This
is really discoverable only when a person is ready to be considerably
non conformist. Because many people conform, it's a part of our culture
actually, it forces people to adapt to many things others want them to
do. But then if we are able to say - 'No! This is what I want' and are
also able to focus on our goals, not someone else's own, then we can
easily achieve them. These goals should also add value to the lives of
others. If our goals are selfish, then we are not help anybody. These
are things that students should understand. Also, we have to also be
able to listen keenly to others and try to understand the world from
other perspectives. Finally and most importantly, God must be a big part
of your life. If one does all these things and God does not bless your
effort, the. It's all pointless. But when God blesses it and the world
recognizes it, then it's a worthwhile endeavour.
•LIB: So, What are your future plans? What Next?
For me now, I just want to take some time off to consider
my options. I know that sometime in the future, I would be involved in
Academia. I am looking at a situation where I am able to link the world
of Academia to the real world of real/social problems such that
knowledge in the Academic World does not just stay there but has real
life applications. I am trying to see how we can combine the best of
both worlds. Where we can get knowledge from research and also apply it
to solve problems. That is where my interest really lies. Application of
the knowledge I am able to acquire. I intend to acquire more knowledge,
also do a PHD. If there is anything more than that, I would be
interested in it. Getting knowledge to work for people and solve Human
Problems is a top priority.
Linda Ikeji Blog wishes Ayodele Daniel Dada - Success in his future endeavours.
Photo Credit: Instagram | tjan_photography & Tobi_Skillful .
