How I broke FUTA academic record with 4.98 CGPA – Varsity best graduate, Akindunbi

25-year-old Civil Engineering graduate of the Federal University of Technology, Akure, Ondo State, Aduragbemi Akindunbi. Photo: Ayoola Olasupo.

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Aduragbemi Akindunbi, a 25-year-old Civil Engineering graduate of the Federal University of Technology, Akure, Ondo State, speaks to AYOOLA OLASUPO about how he etched his name in the institution’s history by graduating as the 2024 overall best graduate with a record-breaking CGPA of 4.98

Why did you choose Civil Engineering as a course?

I’m passionate about the infrastructure aspect of Civil Engineering.

How old are you and what is your hobby?

I am 25 years old. I watch football matches as a hobby. I’m a video editor, and I create videos.

What thought crossed your mind when you saw your final CGPA of 4.98?

My CGPA has been accumulating since the 100-level, and when I saw the final one, I was thrilled because it was something I had been working towards. It was a result of the hard work, dedication, and consistent efforts that I put into it, so I was happy I could come out with that CGPA.

Is it true that your CGPA is the highest in FUTA’s history?

Yes, it is. The highest before mine was 4.96 by Johnbull Vitowanu, so mine is an outstanding record of 4.98.

Were you recognised by the institution for breaking the record?

I received an award for being the overall best graduating student, and not for that, but I was recognised. It was read out during the convocation ceremony.

What personal experiences or influences shaped the drive that produced this record-breaking academic performance?

The hunger for academic success had always been there, right from my primary education. I had my primary school at Divine Favour Nursery and Primary School, Akure, and my secondary education at Oyemekun Grammar School, Akure.

I wasn’t the best, but I was among the best. That’s one thing I’ve always been so intentional about: to be among the best academically, and it was that mindset I also employed for my undergraduate years. I didn’t gain admission immediately after I finished secondary education. I had to wait for a year before I gained admission.

So, one thing I did was find a mentor, Michael Agwulonu. The person walked up to me, and he was a senior colleague in my department, but he wasn’t the only one who mentored me, though. He also started well, and he was a class representative then, so he told me a lot of things about the school because he liked me so much.

I was happy to meet him because he was also on four points at that time, and he enlightened me a lot. So, in my first semester of 100-level, I had a 4.95 GP, which was the beginning of my journey.

What came to my mind then was that if I could make 4.95 with the kind of energy I put into it, I could get something better if I were able to put more energy and strategy into it. So, I reached out to a couple of other guys who were like-minded, and I also had friends with whom we shared ideas on how to navigate some things.

Was there a specific turning point in the university when you realised you were capable of something exceptional?

I mentioned that when I was delivering the valedictorian speech at the convocation ceremony, but I will say it again. I just thought that if I could get 4.95 in the first semester of 100-level, I could do more.

One thing about the school is that we have a lot of students doing very well academically, so I didn’t know if I would be the overall best since I could not confirm that in the other department. But I knew I was having the best result in my department. I just felt like working harder even during my 400-level.

Would you say having many other students, who were also doing well academically, pushed you to do more?

They contributed to it, but coming to my department alone , the second best had 4.97. That shows the level of academic success people strive for. I did not know the best in other departments because I did not know much about them.

The urge to be excellent was so much, but it wasn’t really a competition. I didn’t even start as the best, but I was among the best because there were some in my class who had 5.0, but I was on 4.95.

So, it was not like a competition because we tried to accept ourselves, and that actually pushed me forward to be the best. It was more of a community that shaped everybody in my category to achieve whatever it is that we eventually achieved.

Did you face any tough moments during your academic journey, and how did you push through them without losing focus?

I faced a lot. I had some financial issues at some point. When I was in 300-level, first semester during the exam period, I had issues with my tooth. So, I used to experience a lot of pain at that time, and I wouldn’t have any other choice but to cry.

I was writing exams, and I knew I couldn’t go for medicine that would make me rest so well because it was exam period. I would just go to write the exam, and it was very difficult for me.

But I had it in mind that I was not going to give up on myself, and I was going to do what I was supposed to do because I knew the truth that if anything happened, nobody would even want to understand what happened to me.

Another one was also during exam period, when I had a skin infection. Initially, I thought it was chicken pox because I noticed that I started having some spots on my back, and it was spreading and increasing. I was so surprised because it was during the exam period, so I had to go to the pharmacy, and there I was told that it was a skin infection.

Then, I started managing myself, and whenever I went for my exams, I would just wear clothes that covered all my body because the whole of my body was reacting to it. It only lasted for a short while and didn’t take too long. It was just during the exam period, and after the first exam, I started getting better.

Another personal issue that I faced was that I had two phones: an iPhone and an Android. I used the iPhone for creating content, so six days before my exams, the iPhone was stolen. It caused a lot of damage to me because it affected me mentally.

A lot of things were on that phone that I shouldn’t have lost, but are now lost. Even the Android phone developed a fault two days after the iPhone was stolen. That moment was a lot for me because I had exams to take.

At a point, I just had to ask a friend of mine, Labaika Adetunji, who repairs phones. He would just come over sometimes to ask how I was coping because he knew that moment was a crucial moment for me, so he would check up on me. Although we were both writing exams, he kept checking up on me.

Can you shed more light on the financial challenges you mentioned earlier?

Before I gained admission into the university, I had some financial issues. After I finished my secondary education, I didn’t write UTME because I was considering that I had two brothers and a sister already in school, so I couldn’t just say that I wanted to join them too.

That was what caused the financial constraints at that time, so I was working at a primary school. By the second year, when another UTME form came out, one of my siblings had already graduated, so we had two of them left, and it wasn’t as if the money was even enough to go round.

So, it was looking as if I would have to wait again for the second time. Luckily, a particular woman I used to teach her children lessons, on February 14, 2019, asked about my plans for UTME, so I told her that the situation was not about the money to obtain the form, but how to pay the school fees and others after admission.

I explained everything to the woman, and she said I shouldn’t worry about the payments. She just told me to obtain the form, which I did. I wrote the exam and scored 283, even while I was working and doing a lot of things at that point in time. I gave thanks to God that I could even score that high, although I knew I could have done better.

I gained admission into the university, and the woman paid for my acceptance fee and the school fees, and from there, my parents also contributed to every other thing I needed. There were some compulsory things I needed, like textbooks and departmental fees, among others, and they made them available.

But since I wasn’t collecting it all at once, they were going all out in providing those things. So, I was managing myself, and I wasn’t spending much from day to day. But when I got to 300-level, where I think I was already okay because I got some scholarships, and that gave me the opportunity to be able to learn video editing during my 200-level.

Can you mention some of the scholarships you received?

I received the MTN Foundation Scholarship, the Chevron Scholarship, and the SSB Scholarship from the Federal Government.

Did you ever experience failure or self-doubt along the way?

I think the definition of failure is different in my own case. When I was in 400-level, first semester, I had the biggest shock because it wasn’t up to my expectations. It was the course I did the most in; I had a ‘B’ in it. I was surprised.

What pained me was not the ‘B’, but the fact that it was the course I tried to put in all my best, and at that point, I was down. I wasn’t expecting it, so I had a little shock about it.

Then my CGPA was 4.99 before I saw the ‘B’, so that result made it drop to 4.97. I was not happy about it. After a while, I had to get myself back and put in more energy.

How did those moments contribute to your success story?

I learnt some lessons when I had that downfall. It wasn’t really a downfall, because I was the face of the department then. For that kind of thing, when the results come out, mine is what people are eager to check. The takeaway from there for me was that in life, there are moments when things do not go as planned.

Sometimes, we might even do all the right things, and things still would not go as expected, so the energy to come back from those low moments is very important. For me, the energy to stay consistent in whatever it is I’m doing matters a lot. That is what I learnt from that experience.

Your achievement has become an inspiration to many students. What pressure or expectation came with being seen as a role model early in life?

The pressure was that I’m a popular figure on campus because of the way I tried to also impart knowledge. I went as far as teaching the lower-level students, and I also served as an executive in one of the students’ bodies.

In the 400-level, when my grade dropped, I told only two people, but the news got circulated within a short period of time. So, the pressure was very high, and at that point, I felt uncomfortable. I just had to soak in the pressure and told myself that the situation wasn’t about others, it was about me, and I knew what I wanted.

Funnily, I still had the highest amount of pressure in that semester when my grade dropped because people were already thinking and speculating about a lot of things. That period was indeed overwhelming for me. It was later that I started to calm down and said to myself, ‘Okay, the unexpected has happened already, where do we go from here?’

That was what I eventually worked towards, and the next semester I had a 5.0, which boosted my CGPA back to 4.98, and I was happy again that at least I had been able to move it up a bit. So, I just continued to be consistent, dedicated, and hardworking.

Looking back, what decision do you think changed the direction of your entire FUTA experience?

I decided to stay consistent. I knew I had faced a lot of things, but regardless of that, I must stay consistent.

What legacy do you hope your story leaves for students who feel their background or circumstances limit their potential?

It has left a very good legacy for others. A few days ago, someone messaged me and said he just gained admission into my department. He said he wanted to seek my advice. I was so happy that he could message me directly, and he said my story had inspired him and that he would like to achieve something similar to that.

Looking back, I was so happy that I could even do that. I believe this will actually set a lot of standards for a lot of people, and it will make people really and sincerely strive for success.

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