Meet 23-Year Old Nigerian Who Graduated With First Class at University of Greenwich

Meet 23-Year Old Nigerian Who Graduated With First Class at University of Greenwich

Like an eagle that soars swiftly to the top, Odera Ogbodo, 23, from Enugu State, graduated in First Class division in Information and Communications Technology recently at the University of Greenwich. This came barely few weeks after an exclusive report by Education Review on 21-year-old Precious Oyelade, born to Nigerian parents living in South London, who also won the best first degree academic project at the Cambridge University. She wrote on a project, titled: Changing Representations of Nigerian Identity: An Exploration through Nollywood and its Audience.
Can anything good come from Nigerian education system stymied by decades of neglect and rot? Ogbodo, who started his early education in Nigeria before travelling abroad,  bares his mind in this exclusive interview.

Academic background
I attended the University of Nigeria Primary School Enugu Campus and after the common entrance examinations, I was accepted into King’s College, Lagos, which was my first choice secondary school and University of Nigeria Secondary School, Enugu Campus. After a short spell at King’s College, I switched to University of Nigeria Secondary School, Enugu Campus, where I completed secondary education.

What contributed to your First Class result?
My degree class was achieved as a mix of various occurrences. I have always been very intuitive and brilliant. However, I would say that I achieved the degree class based on my hard work, mindset and a will to succeed as the best in my educational career. In addition, the encouragements and advice from my family, friends, fellow students, tutors and colleagues at work including lessons learnt from other people’s experiences played a key role in my academic success. I would add that the availability of resources also made it somewhat easier.

What were your reasons for going abroad to study?
I had the opportunity to witness what the Nigerian education system was like. From my observations and research, it was crystal clear that studying abroad delivered better learning conditions with respect to the educational infrastructures and tutoring methodologies. I wanted value for education; to be able to defend my degree at any given instance. In addition, I felt it would provide more opportunities like internships and placement in my career path while I’m studying which aid in the development of my personal and professional characteristics and enhance employability.

How much did it cost to study in London?
It was no walk in the park. My tuition fees alone were over £9,000 per session. Accommodation cost about £7000 per year. In three years this amounted to nearly £50,000 (that’s approximately N13.5m) spent on tuition and accommodation alone. Travel cards, mobile top ups and internet bills, plus other living expenses have not even been included.
How would you Compare Nigerian academic standard with British?
Compared to the standard in Nigeria, I would say we are nautical miles away from the standard of education in England. The infrastructures are well maintained and regularly updated. Libraries, laboratories and e-resources are all well stocked and maintained. In three years of my undergraduate degree, I can honestly say that I never purchased a textbook or journal (or handout) for any of my courses. Everything I needed, I found in the library, labs and/or e-resources. In addition, the tutoring methodologies and mentalities if I may add, are way different to what we have in Nigeria. I believe this is very important because the attitude of tutors have direct impact on the learning of students. I have experienced lecturers in our Nigerian universities who do not take well to being asked questions. The attitude of lecturers is very different in the UK and I believe that may be one of the reasons the student satisfaction rate is high in most UK universities.

How would you rate the academic abilities of African and British students?
That’s a trick question. It’s hard to say. I mean there are very bright students there and there are very bright students in Africa as well. You could argue that if we were to trade places, the students over there would not last a week in the African institutions whereas the Africans would thrive in their institutions. However, that theory is not proven. Some African students overseas do not do well because they are not used to the system there. However, I have met some English students who studied in Tanzania and did real good. That being said, I personally do not think students over there are brighter than Africans. In fact, they are not. They just have better infrastructures and a better system.

What is unique about ‘white’ students?
Honestly, nothing. You meet a few who are exceptional. But then again you also meet geniuses that are Africans.