How I graduated with all-round A's and 5.0 CGPA - UNILAG Graduate, Ayodele Dada

How I graduated with all-
round A’s & 5.0 CGPA”-
UNILAG graduate, Ayodele
Dada

Ayodele Dada has made history by
graduating from the University of Lagos
(UNILAG) with an amazing 5.0 CGPA. In
this interview with UNILAG Sun’s
Muftaudeen Raji, he reveals the secrets
behind his remarkable life. Excerpts:
Would you briefly tell us about yourself?
my name is Ayodele Daniel Dada. I
graduated from department of
Psychology, Faculty of Social science,
University of Lagos. I’m from Ekiti State.
We are just two siblings, I have a
younger brother. I’am a kind of person
who is open to various experiences. I try
to experiment a lot and I have tried so
many things. I have been into music
production in the past.
Your educational background?
I had primary education and secondary
education here in Lagos. My secondary
school is Hopebay College, Ajegunle-
Apapa, off Lagos-Badagry expressway.
We lived close to that area. So after
secondary school, it took me a while to
decide on what I wanted to do because I
had a brief stint learning how to do
some bit of IT, bit of network business
but it wasn’t really serious, it was just
on the surface level and I did some
French. I’m interested in languages
especially European languages so I learnt
French though I’m not efficient at it
now. I’m also trying to translate that
into a bit of music production.
Eventually, I read a book that just made
me see how psychology can be applied
in the real life so it just captured my
imagination and I decided that I was
going to devote my time to Psychology.
Yes, it was difficult at first. For example,
when I decided I was going to do
Psychology, I devoted three months to
preparing to take JAMB/UTME and I
really studied hard for it and I wrote the
exam, confident that I really did well only
to hear some couple of weeks later that
my result was seized. I was devastated.
That was in the year 2011. They said I
cheated or so. I felt sad but I took it as
fate. I initially wanted to go through the
complaining procedure but it didn’t really
work out because it was taking too long.
I really wanted to resume as quickly as I
could and then that was when I took the
Diploma option, the foundation
programme. That was how I came into
UNILAG.
How did you finance your programme?
It was challenging because of the
expense. Meanwhile, at that time, I had
been doing several jobs. I worked a bit
with my uncle. I did a bit of sales job
selling computer accessories for some
time. I also did some tutoring, I was
teaching some people trying to at least
make ends meet for myself and I didn’t
stop that even when I started my
programme at UNILAG. Most of my
expenses except one or two occasions, I
was taking care of my daily expenses.
So, I had to plan my time such that it
will not affect my study.
Before I was able to get on board the
foundation programme, I had to get
money from several sources. There were
quite a few of family friends who were
very helpful. They really came in and
stood in for me because I could not take
the bill myself. They were so kind
because they were ready to help me
without any string attached and that was
how I started the Diploma programme
and then it was challenging because
they kept on telling me my name was
written in pencil. “You are not part of the
system.” There was even a student in
this faculty (FSS) who would just come
and tell us :“All of you that did this, you
are bribing your way into school: and
those things just kept on adding to my
motivation. But I felt like people have to
understand that we did that because of
some certain circumstances, it was not
as if we had all the money to come and
spend. So I started the programme, kept
on going through it and I was really
driven to succeed in it.
What was your standing like at the end
of the programme?
My first result the first semester, I had
4.55. I had a D in Geography and I tried
to ask for what happened because even
people who I was tutoring were having
Bs and As but they said my CA or part
of my exam was not recorded then I said
fine, I would work better in the semester.
The next semester, I had 4.91, exactly
for the second semester. So, the
aggregate was like 4.72. That’s for the
foundation programme. That was how I
gained admission into UNILAG.
Could you tell us how many JAMB
exams you took?
I have taken just two JAMB exams and
the reason is that I actually got the
admission but it wasn’t what I wanted
and the thing about me is that if it is not
something I really want to do, my
motivation is always very poor and I
have to commit to the task and once I
commit I could actually go to any length
to achieve it. The second one was the
one that was seized as I said earlier.
What about the SSCE exams, how many
WAEC did you write?
I wrote one and I made it at once. I
wasn’t the best overall but at least I
made everything that was required.
Now, how can you describe your study
habit?
My study habits are not very predictable
because I adapt my study habit to
whatever that is needed at the time.
Take for example, I have a policy of
never studying at night but, sometimes I
had to change that based on the
situation.
How were you able to sustain your GP
considering how difficult the hurdles
could be?
I have been asked that question
severally and the simple answer I will
give is that I never looked at everything
on a long term path. I was looking at it
from one day to the next. What I mean is
I was thinking short term instead of the
long term because I know quite a few
people who were thinking this is what I
want to finish with but then you have
that long goal and you are looking at
that meanwhile, things are happening
right in front of you in short term. I was
just preoccupied with winning the short
terms. That was where my focus was
on. This assignment, do it well; this test,
do it well; this current exam, do it well.
Do today well because, tomorrow is
another today and then it will keep
coming. So, just keep doing each they
well and when it adds up, then you get
to wherever you want to be.
What was your relationship with your
lecturers likewhile in school?
(Cuts in) Yes my relationship with my
lecturers were very good. Now you may
say it’s because I was one of their best
students but, it doesn’t always work
that way because I know that there were
some people who were also very
good.Infact, I have to say that my class
was one of the best classes that my
department has had in a long time.
What’s your social life like?
Yes I go to cinemas. I attend people’s
birthdays. Some of my colleagues can
attest to that. I’m not completely the
outdoor type but, of course on occasions
I have been to quite a number of
functions. I participate in events and
activities even though I will not be the
main person all the time but, im just
there and I try to socialite a lot. I
interact with so many people although
im not the kind who is always attending
every party. I tried to create a blend.
How were you able to manage the wave
of the social media?
For most of the initial years in
Psychology, I was only doing social
media on my laptop because I felt it’s
easier to control on a laptop because the
laptop is not something you are checking
all the time. When I got to final year, I
decided to change that. So, I got a
phone that would enable me monitor the
social media and I downloaded all the
apps. I told myself I was going to
participate seriously in social media and
I was quite visible. My class had a
whatsapp group chat, I tried to
participate in that as well. I tried to be
involved. I don’t just lock myself away
and say because I’m studying I won’t do
that.
What can you say on your level of
performance in extra-curricular
activities?
I didn’t do much of extra-curricular
activities because most of the times I
spent my time either tutoring my
colleagues or those in the lower level
apart from my personal academic work
and also collaborating to an extent with
some of my lecturers. There was one
event I attended with one of my
lecturers, she has been very supportive
and she has tried to mentor so many
young people in the department. We
actually went to Enugu State. She was
the one who advocated and showed the
idea to us. She actually led the
contingent where we presented a
research to a group of people who are
also members of Nigerian Psychology
Association and they applauded our
effort because, it was a research where
basically we were the only
undergraduates to present that year.
That was November – December 2014.
So, it was the 50 years anniversary of
Psychology in Nigeria. It was something
wonderful, I would say that was more of
extra-curricular activity for me. I was
always in some way connected to
curricular activity.
When it comes to fellowship or
association on campus, did you at one
time serve as the leader?
Well, I wasn’t really part of the
fellowship but, the association I
participated in and that was in my final
year was Impart Your World Leadership
Initiative (IYWLI) and there was an event
that was organised to inspire leadership
and I still have a good rapport with the
CEO of the organisation and it was
because the event which launched it was
the one that really captivated our minds
and it was highly inspirational and it’s
something that reshape the academic
landscape of this university in times to
come so, that was how much I
participated as far as association is
concerned.
Could you also talk about your hobbies?
My hobbies include reading. I read quite
a number of books, a wide variety of
books and some of the books I read I
have shown them to some my
colleagues and they feel like this is really
boring but, If I know that I’m going to
learn one thing from it I’m always
interested and I don’t finish all the books
I pick up. When I pick up a book I read it
I get through some parts, if I feel like
this is as much as what I want from this
book I don’t feel obligated to finish the
book. I can put the book aside, pick
another one and begin to read so, I read
a wide variety and that’s one of my key
hobbies. Then like I said I’m also into
music production so I do it as a hobby
now. I was even as serious as it was
then but, now I do it as my hobby and I
like board games, strategy games, chess,
scrabble, monopoly although I’m not
extremely good at them but the strategy
games I really like are computer strategy
games.
Apart from academics, were you also
into business or other things?
I still did a bit of sales job while I was
studying Psychology because I had to
support myself. It was something I had
to do. I had to sell to some of my
lecturers, to my colleagues as well and
then I was also going to Ikeja because
my uncle was the one who really
introduced me to it. We would go to
Computer Village and even sell in
wholesales then I also did a bit of
private tutoring. That was one of the key
areas I major in. As far as business is
concerned, I participated briefly in
entrepreneurship challenge although I
wasn’t the leader but, I just participated
to gain some experience. It was
organized by Google, some departments
in engineering pioneered it in UNILAG
and I participated at a point so, it was
connected to entrepreneurship where we
have to promote particularly a small,
start-up business. It was good and a
learning experience for me but owning a
business and running it, I don’t think I
have that much time because the
demands the academic climate put on
me as well as other things I was doing I
just make sure that time for such was
highly limited.
What of your relationship status while in
school?
No I wasn’t in any serious relationship
because I read a study that just made
me realized that most people who really
achieved the strongest grades in their
schools were single at the time and I
was able to identify with it because for
me, when I go into things I go into them
fully and when I’m in a relationship I
want to be able to at least devote time
to it and time was one of my major
challenges. I always have a lot of things
to do and so many things are coming
up. I don’t want to be in a relationship
and it will now suffer because I didn’t
have enough time for my partner or my
girlfriend or something so, I just said I
would put that on hold till I’m done with
my programme.
What was your experience with girls
generally like?
In fact, most of my friends are girls and
they are the ones who would call to
check up on me. I related well with girls.
I seem to be able to connect with them
a lot easier because I know that I am a
patient person when it comes to
listening even though the girl has a lot to
say about her life, I would sit down with
her and listen even if it took hours.
Some of them had challenges and I
would give advice and be of help. So, my
relationship with girls was quite good,
but relationship wise, no, I wasn’t into
any relationship.
How did you get your motivation?
From most things I have done, my
motivation has always been intrinsic. I’m
not doing it for anything most people
say they are doing this to get that but, I
do things for their own sake. For
example even though I was doing private
tutor, there were times when some
people would not pay me completely, yes
they would pay part but they won’t
complete payment. I was passionate
about imparting knowledge to them.
It’s quite brilliant that you are already
working. How can you describe your
experience at your place of work?
My experience at work has been
wonderful. I have interacted with some
of the best minds at work. These are
smart and driven people who will want
to win in any way possible as long as it
is legal and it is the right thing to do.
These are highly principled people who
are determined to achieve great things.
It has been a great experience. I have to
learn things and I have even surprised
myself by learning things that I have not
even learnt before.
Where do you see yourself in the next
five to 10 years?
By the grace of God, five years horizon, I
want to have at least furthered my
education. I won’t say exactly now at
least I want to be somewhere where my
expertise, efficiency and certification in
my field is a lot higher than it is now. I
want to be professional and recognised
in my field. Ten years I want to be really
distinguished but, five years, I want to
be on that path, whatever it’s I have to
achieve the level of distinction in my field
not just at this level. I really want to go
far.