The royal king of Iwo-land, Dr Abdulrosheed Adewale Akanbi rejoiced a fresh graduate of Usmanu Danfodiyo University Sokoto (UDUS), Adewale Sefiu Damilare for bagging first-class honour.
Adewale Sefiu Damilare is an indigene of Iwo-land, a prominent city located in Osun state who clinched first-class feat and emerged as best-graduating student of the Department of Pure and Environmental Chemistry with 4.78 of 5.00 Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA).
“Iwo-land has an area of 245 km² and a population of 191,348 making it the most populous Local Government in the State of Osun by the 2006 Nigeria National census figures. Its agriculturally rich advantage makes it a major trading centre for cocoa, kolanuts, foodstuff, yams, meat and timber.”
Damilare did not have it in mind to meet the Oluwo of Iwo-land, HRM Oba Abdulrosheed Adewale Akanbi over his academic feat until a neighboring brother advised him to do so because he learnt that the king used to commend such excellence. He booked an appointment to meet the king through his PA, Mr Ola Gold.
When Damilare arrived at the Oluwo’s palace on Monday, March 04, 2024, he was honorably welcomed by the king. The king congratulated Damilare for making the whole Iwo-land proud and encouraged him to keep doing great. In the king’s words, “You make us proud and you should continue to do more.”
The king assured Damilare to help him secure a chance to undergo his compulsory one-year National Youth Service Corps, or NYSC at the company of his choice in order to honor his first-class honor. After all, the king asked his social media officer to take photographs of them.
“I was very amazed and happy being with the king and took pictures with him individually, not in a group. It’s a privilege that I don’t take for granted. It gladdens me that the king acknowledges my academic feat,” Damilare expressed blissfully. He is not a relative of the king, it is just a coincidence that both of them have Adewale in their names.
Untold Story of Scholar Damilare
Nothing in this life comes easy including bagging first-class honors from the university which made Scholar Damilare to echo that the journey has not been easy. His academic challenges started from the scratch of searching for university admission which cost him a good seven years.
Damilare completed secondary school in 2011 but couldn’t get admission to study his course of choice (Pharmacy) in any university in the southwest. He wrote several Jambs applying to University of Ibadan, Oyo state and Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) in Osun state but all efforts proved abortive.
He gave northern university a trial in 2018 and was offered admission to study Chemistry at Usmanu Danfodiyo University Sokoto. During his academic journey, he lost his father and sister. He didn’t let the pain of losing dear ones affected him and stayed focused.
Damilare had 4.82 Grade Points (GP) in the 100-level but dropped to 4.75 CGPA in the 200-level. “I can say that 300-level was the toughest level for me, regardless, I had a perfect 5.0 GP in it which cumulatively falled to 4.82 CGPA. Lastly, in my final-year, I had 4.78 CGPA.”
While on campus, he enjoyed being a member of University Scholars’ Forum where he served as organizing secretary during the last administration.
He appreciated Allāh for given him the opportunity to achieve his aim and objective to graduate as the best student of his department. Damilare encouraged students, especially those from poor backgrounds like him to strive for academic excellence as it’s the only sword to fight the war in the labor market.
UDUS
