Breaking: I never attended night class, says ESUT best-graduating student
By Ikechukwu Odu
NSUKKA—–The best-graduating student of the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Enugu State University of Science and Technology, ESUT, Levi Idokoja, has said that he never attended night classes throughout his study periods in the University.
Idokoja, who hails from Umuagama in Igbo-Eze North Local Government Area of Enugu State, explained that the study pattern that worked for him was to read at the confines of his room.
He spoke shortly after the Registrar of Pharmacy Council of Nigeria, PCN, Ibrahim Ahmed, inducted him and 45 others into the Pharmacy profession at the ESUT main campus in Agbani, Nkanu West Local Government Area of Enugu State, weekend.
The 28-year-old who graduated with the Cumulative Grade Point Average, CGPA, of 4.66 equally said that he tried not to miss lectures as well.
“I adopted a study approach that worked best for me. From the day of my resumption in ESUT till the day I graduated, I never attended night classes. I studied only at the confines of my room at the time that is best favourable to me.
“I tried as mush as possible not to miss lectures, it helped me a lot. I am grateful to God for making me graduate top of my class,” he explained.
While speaking of the rigours involved in studying Pharmacy at ESUT, Idokoja, explained that students from other faculties in the institution see the endeavour as “suicidal.”
“Other students from other faculties in the university community see studying Pharmacy at ESUT as suicidal. We interact with them and they know the stress we pass through. We leave for classes earlier than them and return later than they do. They always told us that we were trying.
“Honestly speaking, I never knew I was going to graduate the best of my classmates. I neither planned nor fought for it. The only thing I fought for was to make my parents and siblings proud by making good grades. Maybe, God saw the purity of my heart and crowned my efforts with success.
“When my project Supervisor broke the news to me, it sounded like a joke because I didn’t see it coming. It is a rare privilege and I thank God for it. It is a height I see as a privilege for me to attain,” he explained.
He further explained that he enrolled into ESUT as a Direct Entry student with about 200 classmates, adding that only 46 of them made it to the finishing line.
“I joined my classmates as a Direct Entry student at their 200 level. When they were admitted, they were up to 200 students at 100 level. At 200 level, when I joined them, we were about 97 students, which means that over 100 students didn’t make it to 200 level. At 300 level, we were reduced to 67 students, we were less than 50 at 400 level. At 500 level, we were 47, unfortunately, one of us could not make it, because only 46 of us were inducted today,” he said.
He expressed his gratitude to his parents and the University community for their supports.
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Photo:Levi Idokoja, taking his oath during his induction into Pharmacy Council of Nigeria.
