By Isiaq Ibrahim
Ismail Aliyu, 27, was among the students offered admission to study Political Science at Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto in 2017.
To him, the intention of graduating with first class in his department never crossed his mind, owing that no students has ever clinched the feat since the establishment of the department in 1977.
A native of Etsuworo Village in Batati district area of Lavun Local Government of Niger state and one of the graduating students of 2021/2022 academic session, Ismail, has, however rewritten the history, breaking the record 46-year jinx with a Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of 4.53.
Back to 100-level. On a cold and warm day, he sat with some of his senior colleagues somewhere within his faculty, discussing their department activities. In the middle of the conversation, the issue of no one has ever had first class in his department came up.
“After hearing this, I began to develop the idea of graduating with first class, and I was inspired when I saw my CGPA of 100-level, 4.63 which serve as my driving force to dream of graduating with first class and it makes me believe that I can actually break the record to become the first student,” he said.
Having gotten 4.63 in his 100-level, he developed to kick the book to have a better CGPA throughout his remaining levels on campus. During his 200-level and 300-level, he suffered a slight frustration in his CGPA which he was able to maintain 4.58.
My Roommate: A Source of Inspiration
Ahmad Musa, well known as MK, a student of the Economics department, happened to be Ismail’s first roommate during his 100-level. Musa is someone who is intelligent, unique and well behaved.
“I could say Musa is the number one in terms of reading, he does not joke with night class, going to the library, going for tutorials, and he was very consistent in his academics.”
Musa did not use to joke with reading, he had the intention of graduating with first class, but despite all the odds he could not have the privilege to bag first class in his department.
“He was one of the best graduating students of his department in the 2021/2022 academic session.”
“Others who served as motivation for me are, Abiodun Jamiu, Umar Sheriff, and Hassan Garba Buhari,” he said.
I Never had Carryover But I witnessed ‘F’ in My Results
In 2017, Ismail confidently sat for General Studies (GST) 106—Arabic studies—exams with the hope of scoring ‘A’ but unfortunately an ‘F’ appeared on his result.
“I went to my department exam officer to check if there is a missing grade in my result but later he realized that the fault is from the GST division, I was given a later by my examination which he asked me to tender if I got to the GST division. But Alhamdulilahi, after a couple of days, my result was later rectified,” he said.
No Morocco, No Extracurricular Activities
During Ismail’s stay on campus, he has never partake in any extra-curricular activities. To him, engaging in it does not mean it will affect his academic performance, it was just that he did not develop interest in it.
“All what I did in school was purely academic apart from my religious affairs, which of course is obligatory upon me.”
Meanwhile, when Ismail was in 100-level and 200-level, it was hard for him to finance himself, because of this he believed that having a girlfriend will be even more difficult for him to meet her needs.
On the other hand, having a relationship while on campus might affect his academic performance.
“Imagine you will want to read and your girlfriend will be calling you for Morocco—date and same thing in the classroom when reading together, to me it will be difficult to concentrate on my study if I was in a relationship then.”
“Most ladies on campus, they engage in a relationship because they did not want to be alone, despite the fact that they will have a boyfriend at home,” he said