My journey to LL.B, a personal story

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The young man in the photo is the narrator of the story.

My journey to getting an LLB is one that's full of mystery, hurdles and obstacles. It's years of struggles, hustles and bustles, adjustment and readjustment.

To start with, I was not originally an art student during my O level program. I was a science student but I was very weak in calculations especially Mathematics and chemistry, albeit, I fared well in subjects like Biology, Agricultural science and other science subjects. And on top of that I was a lazy student. I didn't make a lot of commitment or put much effort towards learning the subjects I was weak in, instead, I always dodged them. That was how I ended up changing my class from science to commercial then to art where I finally graduated.

Besides the disparity of interest I encountered from the start, laziness, and my weak spots, I was also not very punctual. In fact, there were times when I stopped going to school for months, even though this was for some reasons beyond my control, I was just naturally tardy and ludic.

My love for law started way back in secondary when I was taught government by my two lawyer-teachers. These teachers always stood out best among their peers and they were so eloquent and bold that I considered them role models and started dreaming to become like them when I grow up. I can say they inspired me so much. But after a careful perusal of my possibilities and weighing the pros and cons of it, I decided I couldn't do it looking at my poor background of English and laggard and dilatory nature.

I finally chose public administration as both first and second choice while registering for UTME exams. I chose it not because I wanted to become an administrator but because I thought it was easy, stress-free and popular. My jamb score returned negative and my SSCE result (both WAEC and NECO) was nothing to write home about. My dream of getting into university was shattered and hence, I had to find another alternative before I could sit for SSCE again. I went knocking to Ramat Polytechnic to gain admission to study estate management but the door was shut to me.

That unfortunate experience bolstered and emboldened me. I finally mustered and summoned the courage to study law, even if it meant I would fail. This was contrary to what my family wanted me to study from the outset which was "Medicine or a related field" because my mother was a primary healthcare staff.

I gained admission to study a diploma in Law in Mohammed Goni of Legal and Islamic studies, bearing in mind that I would fail, perhaps, multiple times before graduating. Alhamdulillah, the journey was smooth, I worked very hard and got good results while resisting every temptation to be pompous and popular. I topped my class and graduated with a good result. This made me fall in love with the Law more and more.

In the same year I was graduating from college, I registered to resit my SSCE to get English and Mathematics which I previously failed, and get Literature added to my SSCE because I had never studied it in my secondary school and literature is sine qua non to getting admission to study law in any university in Nigeria. I applied to get admission to the University of Maiduguri via direct entry the same year, hoping that my SSCE result would be out even before the admission process starts. But to my greatest dismay, my SSCE result was withheld by WAEC until end of the year after the session had begun and the first semester had almost ended.

I told myself, this was destiny and there would be another time.

Another year came, I now applied for the university to get admission fully prepared with all the essential and necessary requirements and the stamina to reflect my diploma successes in the university. Alas! After getting admitted, a sudden issue came up which, by implication, made our diploma results invalid and therefore I was rejected from the university. A number of us "victims" fought to the teeth to get ourselves cleared but the issue was beyond us. That was how that year passed on without getting into university.

I still told myself that "My destined time was yet to come".

After that year, I zeroed my mind, I discarded the fact that I had a diploma since it couldn't even get me into the university. I worked toward sitting for UTME which was no doubt hard and cumbersome for someone like me who didn't attend a posh private school and who didn't know anything about literature, which, like I said earlier sine qou non to getting admission into law. I started learning these subjects and revising the whole of the secondary school syllabus. I made considerable progress on that.

I then sat for UTME exam and scored 243 which was enough to get me admission in any department in any university in Nigeria. I didn't despair, I still applied for direct entry, and in that very session, I got two admissions to study law in the same university. Save the part that it was unethical or even illegal for one person to apply for admission twice in a year.

I chose to start from 200 level which will save me one year, and Alhamdulillah I'm now faring well in my LL.B program and I hope to continue until infinity.

This journey taught me a lot of lessons which I will forever cherished and glued to. Lessons which are both bitter and sweet, the English man calls it "bittersweet".

Perseverance, resilience, patience, hardwork, prayers and believing in yourself are the keys to achieving whatever you want to achieve in this life. Never despair and lose hope. Set your goals, pursue it with passion, vigor and seriousness. You shall succeed.

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