Man Sponsors Himself In School, Graduates With NCE, BSc, MSc And Bags PhD From Ignatius Ajuru Uni

In 2001, while working as an Okada rider in his Amagu village in the Ikwo local government area of Ebonyi state, Friday Alobu knew that being a motorcyclist was not exactly what he wanted for himself.

While he used the job to keep himself busy and make ends meet at the time, he was aware that he needed to do a lot more to join a higher social class in life.

Born into a poor background

Having been born into a poor and financially disadvantaged background, Friday started looking for opportunities to grow higher than the environment in which he was born, and this led him to dream of having the highest academic certificate.

He could not go to school beyond secondary school because no one would foot the enormous bills associated with attending a higher institution. So, first, he had to look for a more sustainable job other than Okada-riding.

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An opportunity for him to join the Nigerian police came in 2001, and Friday decided to grab it with both hands.

He told Legit.ng in an interview:

"I am from Ohatekwe Amagu in Ikwo LGA of Ebonyi state. I actually came from a poor background where I was the only person to have attended university to the level of PhD. My father and mother didn’t attend even primary school, let alone secondary school. I was born with siblings of seven, but none of them attended university, and some dropped out from secondary school. After my secondary school, there was nobody to train me; hence I had no option but to join okada riding in my village. Later, in the month of June 2001, I joined the Nigeria Police Force with the rank of constable. After receiving six months of training at police college Orji River, Enugu state, I was posted to Rivers state command, where I took it as a challenge and got enrolled into university considering my family background."

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Friday bags degrees after joining the Nigerian police

First, Friday bagged a National Certificate of Education (NCE) at the Federal College of Education, Omoku, Rivers state.

After his NCE, he was not satisfied with his educational status, so he went to the Ignatius Ajuru University of Education, Port Harcourt. There, he earned a degree in educational psychology, guidance, and counselling. Friday has now earned an M.Ed and PhD in the same course and university.

Why combining job and school isn't easy

The amazing thing about Friday's story is that he acquired all these degrees and certificates while working as a policeman.

When asked how he was able to combine work and education, he said it was never an easy task.

His words:

"The challenges I faced with combining my job and school was a horrible one,I almost gave up owing to the fact the little stipends received as a salary could not become enough to pay my school fees and feed properly,in fact stress of transfer from one location to another cannot be ruled out."

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Apart from financial challenges, Friday also had to meet all the requirements for the award of degrees. Doing this with the stress of being a policeman was never an easy one. The challenges compounded when he got to the PhD level.

He recalled:

"The challenges I faced with my PhD are uncountable, such as the stress of making sure I participate in the class lessons for above 70% as stipulated but university ethics. More of them hinged on how to pay all my school fees and levies which contributed to wrecking me down and got me indebted. Lastly, I faced serious challenges while writing and trying to defend my thesis."

Friday advises young people to start from somewhere

Despite all the enormous challenges, Friday overcame them all, and he now has the title of 'Dr' attached to his name. More interesting is that Friday dreams of becoming a professor in the future.

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He told Legit.ng:

"Actually my future dream has been to be a teacher and find myself teaching and probably become professor if need be."

On how he feels being able to see himself through school up to PhD level, Friday said the grace of God saw him through the challenges he encountered on the way.

He said:

"I sponsored myself, but all glory be ascribed to God, who gave me the strength and wisdom to navigate my way into education. The next source of my help came from my beautiful wife Mrs Alobu Grace, who stood by me both spiritually and financially."

When asked to advise young people who have no one to sponsor them, Friday said what helped him was that he became a policeman. He expressed a deep love for his job as a policeman.

His words:

"My advice to young ones is that since I can never regret being a police officer, they should start from somewhere as a foundation for the journey of life. They should not allow the stereotype of a particular job to alter their perception or reasoning with respect to job employment."

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UNILAG best-graduating student bags scholarship

Meanwhile, a Nigerian student was selected as one of the 2024 Knight-Hennessy Scholars at Stanford University.

David Akanmu finished as the best graduating student at the University of Lagos (UNILAG), bagging a perfect CGPA of 5.0.

David would be pursuing a PhD at Stanford University, majoring in Energy Science and Engineering.

Proofreading by Nkem Ikeke, journalist and copy editor at Legit.ng.

Source: Legit.ng