45-year-old Bala Magaji, have graduated with a degree in Islamic Studies, emerging as the best graduating student of the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) for the 2018/2019 academic year.
Mr. Bala Magaji, who was showered with praises at the 8th convocation ceremony of the university in Abuja said a university degree is not cheap or easy but can open doors to great benefits.
Mr. Magaji recorded a Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of 4.8.
According to Bala Magaji:
“I feel very happy and excited today and I will recommend the school because it is one of the best in the country and it has rich materials.
I had to tell my wife to sacrifice every time she said she needed me and that is why I had to praise and thank her in my speech.
I had the feeling that I will perform exceedingly well so I created time to study and I ensured I understood all I read. On the average, I read two to three hours daily and had lots of sleepless night.
I will like to teach Islamic studies later.”
Mr. Bala Magaji currently works at Unity Bank and he has a previous degree in Zoology from the University of Jos and a Masters degree in Banking and Finance from Bayero University, Kano.
In his welcome address, the vice chancellor of the institution, Abdalla Adamu, said 20,799 students graduated, the highest in the school’s history. Last year, 14,769 graduated from the university.
Mr. Adamu said the number of undergraduates is 15,642, with 103 graduating first class; while the number of postgraduates is 5,157.
Speaking on the academic development of the school, Mr. Adamu said all the programmes the university submitted to the National Universities Commission (NUC) were accredited.
In the words of Abdalla Adamu:
“Of the 18 programs submitted, 15 had full accreditation, while only three had interim accreditation. Even then, one of them is being phased out.
The three programmes that got interim accreditation are B.sc Hotel and
Catering Management, B.sc Political Science and B.sc Chemistry.”
