Hi friends,
It’s my second week as a law undergraduate. By my calculation, it is two weeks out of a total of two hundred and sixty weeks that I would be an undergraduate! So, help me God. Did you read my first ever publication? Check here
First, I am grateful to God for yet another eventful week. So, lectures officially began on Monday, the 17th of October to be precise. Before I proceed, I want to briefly recall one event of the week before that is very significant. So, I mentioned the last time that it was the orientation week. It turns out to be a week of many introductions. Apart from introducing us to the members of the Board in charge of running the Institution; the Vice Chancellor, the Heads of the various Departments, the Bursar, the Chief Security Officer, the Staff, and so many others, we were finally introduced to the founder himself. the man who made it possible for this institution to come to fruition, Aare Afe Babalola, SAN, LLD and the other numerous titles that come with his name. He spoke to us about the rules and regulations guiding this institution. He also labelled the future plans he has for the institution, if I’m being honest, it’s hard to believe he is above 90 because he is still very active. We also met his wife Mrs. Modupe Babalola, she was very welcoming and her assurance that we would have no issues here in school was so genuine.
Moving on into the previous week, on Monday, the first day of lectures, I was excited, and I assured myself that I was going to be focused but things didn’t go as planned. Most of our lectures were cancelled because of the preparation for the convocation which took place on Friday. We ended up having just one lecture later that day. It is also the only law course that we will be taking for the semester – Legal Method.
There is something about this first lecture. So, going in for the lecture, I was bit nervous because back then when I was younger, I was always told that when you enter the university the lecturers won’t have your time and don’t really care if you are paying attention. Contrary to this impression, it was very different with this lecturer and has been with the other lecturers so far. They are willing to go back over and over to explain and ensure you are following. Discussing this with some of my friends, I have also now heard that it’s only in the Federal Schools that lecturers are indifferent towards their students. Whichever one it is, the most important thing here is to ensure that you make the best out of whatever situation you find yourself.
Thursday was the beginning of the convocation ceremony. Mandatorily, we all converged for the convocation lecture, which was delivered by Chief Mike Ozekhome, SAN. He spoke about the impact of Education on the world. He gave a lengthy talk on the system of Education in Nigeria. Also importantly discussing the issue of strike in Nigeria. What is significant about Ozekhome is the fact that he exudes so much confidence when he speaks. Very inspiring! We were also privileged to listen to former President Olusegun Obasanjo. He delivered a speech on the topic “The place of Education in a crisis ridden Nigeria” he insisted that Education was primary towards achieving success. Let’s not forget he implemented free Education at some point during his tenure.
Friday was the convocation ceremony proper. Since I still have about 258 weeks to stay in this institution, I did not wish I was like the graduands. That may be the feeling of the 500 level students. For me, I took time to reflect on how my life here will end up. I sincerely prayed to God to help me to safely complete my five years in this school without any issue and of course graduating with a first class is also a goal.
On a lighter note, popular Nigerian Artist BNXN (aka Buju) was around for the social aspect of the event.
Dear learning colleagues how is it going at your end? For me, it’s been a smooth journey so far although I’m aware it doesn’t get any easier, but I’m braced up for the challenge. Wherever you are, what is important is to make the best of it and do yourself and your parents proud.
Do you want to give me feedback? Please send to: ikempeters39@gmail.com.
Chibuikem!