The story of a Nigerian man who graduated with First Class Honours in Mechanical Engineering from Bayero University, Kano (BUK) recently went viral
Habib, who was initially an art student, shifted his focus to sciences after he faced a setback in entering the university
TheTalk.NG contacted the brilliant man and he granted an interview, sharing more about his academic achievement
A Nigerian man, Habib Abdulgaffar, made waves on social media after bagging a First Class Honours in Mechanical Engineering.
Despite being in art class in his secondary school days, Habib switched to science and excelled greatly.
In an interview with TheTalk.NG, Habib delved into his academic life and how he succeeded against all odds.
I was selected to join Art class
According to Habib, it was never his intention to join art class initially, especially since his parents wanted him to be a medical doctor.
However, he was randomly chosen to join the class and this was a situation which his parents didn’t find amazing at all.
In his words:
“I was randomly selected to join art class in my senior secondary school, a decision my parents were never happy with because they wanted me to be a medical doctor but I wanted to be an Engineer due to my ability to fix electrical and mechanical appliances when I was very young.
“We couldn’t overturn the decision because it was a federal government school and I had to accept it like that. I love fixing electrical and mechanical allowances and I know how to fix them right and my parents also wanted me to become medical doctor.
I worked hard to achieve academic success
During the interview, Habib praised himself for striving hard and pushing himself to reach greater heights academically.
The scholar noted that he had always been eager to take on new challenges and always desired success in whatever endeavour he embarked on.
He said:
“I’ll attribute my success to hard work, my love for new challenges, my ability to always want to have the best possible outcome in whatever I do, and also the passion that I have for the course.
“I study all the time, in fact during the weekends when we don’t have lectures, I normally await the library to open and I will leave during the closing hours of the Library.
“In short, whenever we don’t have lectures, I normally study for up to 15 hours daily and only take breaks during prayer times. I only go for jogging on Saturday mornings and that’s the only social activity I engage myself in.
“Honestly I felt like I can send Nigeria to the moon if I have the right team with me, I just felt like if I challenge myself, I can do anything.”
My only regret in school
Speaking further, Habib said the regret he has about school is his final year project.
According to him, he wanted to use his project to solve a problem but he couldn’t do so due to lack of capital.”
In his words:
“The only regret I have is about my final year project, actually I had planned and also challenged myself to use my final year project to solve a problem whether in my department, or the whole institution at large, but due to lack of capital, I just had to design something of my capability but still useful if implemented.”
Man bags first class from FUTO
Meanwhile, TheTalk.NG previously reported that a Nigerian man who graduated with first class in mathematics from the Federal University of Technology, Ondo (FUTO) shared his inspiring story.
He remembered that his father was a carpenter who had supported him in the past since when he was a child.
Source: TheTalk.NG
