My first SSCE was dotted with F9s, says LASU’s best graduate adopted by Ambode

Ogunsanya Adetoro, best graduating student at the Lagos State University (LASU), in the 2016/2017 academic session, said he failed his first WAEC and NECO examinations due to health challenges.

The 24-year-old graduate of business administration had a cumulative grade point aggregate (CGPA) of 4.7.

Adetoro said he inherited cataract from his father. The health challenge, he said, greatly affected his performance in the final examination in secondary school.

He said the cataract, which initially affected one eye, later spread to the other and this affected his academic performance.

“My parents helped me to seek medical help but the first operation I had was not successful,” he said.

“When my first WAEC and NECO came out, it was dotted with F9s, so I left home and went to stay with my uncle and his wife.

“My uncle and his wife also helped me to seek medical treatment at the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan and the operation was successful.”

Adetoro said following the treatment, he went back to secondary school to rewrite his WAEC and JAMB, after three years of staying at home.

“I was able to make four As and three Bs and scored 215 in JAMB to gain admission to LASU,” Adetoro recalled.

According to him, he had applied for Accounting at LASU but opted for business administration as because Accounting was not accredited at the time.

Adetoro noted that his academic journey was rigorous and herculean, even as he lost his father in 2015.

“But my doggedness and tenacity yielded a good result,” he added.

He urged employers to trust Nigerian graduates as “they have been fortified with the capacity to significantly change the corporate world”.

“We have internalised the new LASU mantra and will represent the institution in the outside world positively by being good ambassadors and providing solutions to societal problems,” said Adeotoro.

Meanwhile, Akinwunmi Ambode, Lagos state governor, promised to sponsor Adetoro’s post-graduate programme and also said he will give him N5 million.

Ambode said: “There is a divine side to the story of the best graduating student, maybe I choose to come today because of the best graduating student.

“The visitor to the university usually attends the higher degree ceremony of the convocations. But I will adopt the best graduating student because his story is too compelling and reflect on my story.

“I will personally sponsor him to any university of his choice in the world and as the best graduating student, I am giving him a gift of N5 million.”

The university graduated 29,710 students for the 2016/2017 session, out of which 26 made first class.