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The University of Lagos (UNILAG) awarded yesterday a PhD to Mr. Olaoluwa Oluwadamilola (24), Africa’s youngest PhD holder.
Olwadamilola had the best PhD thesis,
titled: “Studies on Fixed Points of Contractive and Expanding Maps in
Multi-Dimensional Spaces”. He scored 5.0 Cumulative Grade Point Average
(CGPA).
Bakre Oluwafemi Abubakar, a graduate of
Electrical/Electronics, was the 2012/2013 Convocation Valedictorian,
with a superlative CGPA of 4.86.
Oluwadamilola’s parents are missionaries with the Deeper Christian Life Ministry.
They gave birth to him while on
missionary work in African Central Republic, a French-speaking country,
where Oluwadamilola had his basic and tertiary education.
He got a B.SC in Mathematics and M.SC and Physics before returning to Nigeria in October, 2009.
According to Oluwadamilola, he began his
PhD in 2010, courtesy of a scholarship from the General Overseer of the
Deeper Christian Life Mission, Pastor Williams Kumuyi. He spent the
minimum three years for a PhD scholar in school.
Speaking with reporters at UNILAG
Auditorium One, Oluwadamilola said: “I used to come first in my
secondary school days, but not always. My performances became better
when I entered the university.”
On his challenges during the programme,
he said: “As a Christian, my schedule is very tight. I am focused. There
were times when I faced distractions from friends who wanted to take me
out. There is nothing bad in it, but it can make you concentrate less.
There were times when I had job offers and was tempted to take them.
“I was discouraged at the beginning. One
gets a feeling at the beginning of one’s doctorate programme that all
the research topics had been considered by previous scholars and so
there is nothing else to do, except for the most complicated ones that
are most times beyond one’s ability.
“Sometimes when you send your
papers to international journals, they return it for one reason or the
other. That does not mean your work is not good enough, but it can be
very discouraging.”
On his next plan, he said: “I want to
take another doctoral programme, which will be in either Mathematics or
Physics. I will think of what topic to choose before I eventually go
ahead.”
Abubakar, the valedictorian, described himself as someone from a privileged home.
Born of banker parents, he said it was
not too difficult for him to study Electrical/Electronics, adding: “I
will not describe myself as a bookworm, as I try to normalise everything
I do. I am not a party freak, but once in a while, I attend social
functions with my friends. I am privileged to have been born into a
comfortable home. I must confess that I am a product of good advice. I
chose the kind of friends I knew would influence me positively and you
will always find me in their company.”
Source: The Nation
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