Seven years after an unwanted pregnancy forced her to drop out of the University of Ilorin, Aishat Farooq emerges the best graduating student of the Bells University of Technology, Ota, Ogun State, reports Temitayo Famutimi
When Aishat Farooq gained admission into the University of Ilorin at 15, to study Zoology, little did she know that she was not going to be an alumnus of the institution. That was in 2003.
Despite the fact that she was a high flyer in her first two years in UNILORIN, the now 25-year-old indigene of Ilorin West-Local Government Area of Kwara State got distracted along the line. She played the campus love game and got a shocking result: she got pregnant. It was in 2006 and in her third year. She was pregnant for a fellow student whom she had been dating. She was disappointed in herself and thought the whole world was crashing on her. Yet, she vowed not to terminate the pregnancy.
Although she wanted to continue her
studies in the university, she became disillusioned and dropped out at
18. She sought consolation in trading.
But her father, Mr. Shehu Farooq, who
believed that his daughter’s academic prowess should not be wasted, was
determined to get her back on the academic track.
Today, Aishat has a different story to
tell. On Saturday, she stood tall among her peers at the 5th convocation
ceremony of Bells University, Ota, Ogun State, where she emerged the
overall best graduating student with a Cumulative Grade Point Average of
4.93.
“The rebel in me won,” she declared while
giving the valedictory address on behalf of the 208 graduating students
of the university.
“I hope my story will inspire at least
one person to change his or her circumstance. I was pregnant at 18 and
by 19 I was already a mother. I had disappointed my father who believed
so much in me. He had such big dreams for me and feared the dreams would
become unfulfilled,” she added.
Breaking the news of the pregnancy to her
father, who was at the time based in the northern part of the country,
was not easy. Aishat’s mother, Fatima, who stayed in Lagos with the
family, did not break the “sad news” to the man until the lady was
almost due. The mum feared her husband would be too angry.
Fatima narrated to our correspondent,
“Looking back, we knew her to be very brilliant. But all of a sudden she
got pregnant. Though her father and I were always discussing on the
telephone, I hid it from him. Whenever he said he would be coming to
Lagos to visit us, I would quickly chip it in that I would like to be
the one to visit. So, I ensured I was the one always visiting him.
“That was how I managed the situation
until the pregnancy was eight months. But even when we broke the news to
him, he felt really bad. Although there was nothing he could do, he
couldn’t go out for three days.”
Aishat studied Business Administration
with specialisation in Human Resources Management, and received the
Vice-Chancellor’s Prize for the Overall Best Graduating Student with a
cash reward of N50,000 and a plaque. She also won the College of
Management Sciences Prize and Department of Business Administration
Prize for the Best Graduating Student.
Speaking with our correspondent after she
received the awards, Aishat, whose face beamed with smiles, expressed
gratitude to her dad for not losing hope in her during her trying time.
She noted that the popularly-held notion
that the child that goes astray belongs to the mother, while the good
ones belong to the father, was not applicable in her situation as her
father did not give up on her.
Asked why her dad had so much hoped in
her, she stated that her history of academic excellence from childhood
right to the university was a major driving force.
Aishat, who attended Nazareth Nursery and
Primary School, Lagos; Penny International College, Lagos and Model
Secondary School, Maitama, Abuja, said she bagged several academic
awards while growing up and noted that she secured admission to UNILORIN
the same year she completed her secondary education.
She noted, “I did exceptionally well and
bagged awards in the schools I attended. I had the overall best result
at the Senior Secondary School Certificate level at Model Secondary
School, Maitama, Abuja. In fact in UNILORIN, I was on the first class
grade in my first year but in 200 Level, I dropped to second class upper
division because I had already started getting distracted by the boys.
“It just happened that things turned out
the way it did. But here I am, a product of God’s unending mercies,
unconditional love and grace – all coupled with the faith my dad had in
me and my fierce determination.
“I’m a goal getter. I push myself hard.
Even here (BELLSTECH) in spite of being a mother, I was pushing for the
best despite the challenges. I wanted to make my dad proud again. Once
you are determined, nothing is impossible. Nothing can stop you.”
She said her decision to study Business
Administration as against the sciences, which she was studying in
UNILORIN, was informed by her two-year experience in the world of
business after she dropped out of university.
She explained that incessant strikes by
the Academic Staff Union of Universities, however, informed her decision
to attend a private university. “Age was no longer on my side and I
wanted to do it fast. And my dad could afford it because he was a
businessman,” she added.
Asked if she was involved in any
relationship at the Bells, she explained that she was a popular “snob”
on campus because the majority of male students were younger than her.
Besides, she did not want to get distracted or disappoint her parents
and herself again.
Aishat, who has been posted to Lagos
State to observe the mandatory National Youth Service Corps scheme,
said, “If you ask around you will be told that I was a snob. My
favourite spot was my room. I rarely went out of the room for social
events. I went to mosque. However, when I contested for the president of
my departmental association, Business Administration Students
Association, the Nigerian system worked against me.
“I lost to my male opponent. Although I
had plans to take some giant strides if I won, especially in the
academic aspect for my fellow students, the fact that I was not the
type of person who hangs out worked against me. I didn’t have a social
life.”
She said she has no plans for marriage
for now. She wants to pursue a master’s degree programme in Human
Resources in the University of Aberdeen, Scotland. She added that she
also plans to work in a corporate environment to garner experience and
afterwards go back to the university to teach “as a way of giving back.”
The second child in a family of eight
children, Aishat brought her six-year-old son, Damilola, to the
convocation. It was, however, learnt that the Edo State-born father of
the boy has since got married to another woman.
She noted that her major challenge on
campus was the randomness of classes which denied her the opportunity of
spending quality time with her son while her stay in the university
lasted.
“We had visiting professors who came into
the campus at anytime. Although we had schedules, many of them had a
bit of flexible time. Sometimes on Sunday when I took permission to
visit my child in Lagos, my classmates would call me up on the phone
that there was going to be a class. Because attendance is very
important, I had to rush down. This affected me a little,” she added.
Aishat’s father advised parents to give
their children and wards the best of tutelage and close monitoring. He
noted that he least expected the feat achieved by his daughter as he was
at a time disturbed that “she could no longer make it.”
Asked if it was lack of adequate
monitoring that made Aishat go astray at UNILORIN, he said, “Let’s just
say that is how God wants it. You see, 70 per cent of the fault is on
us the parents. Parents should give their children good supervision and
tutelage. With this, they cannot derail. I thank God for her because
it’s is not easy to have raised her from grass to grace.
“I screamed on the phone the day I learnt
she was pregnant. I started asking questions: When, where and how. I
burst into tears. But today, she is a new being. And I know the mistake
will not repeat itself. My expectations for her are that she should fly
higher and higher.”
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