Tosin Odunewu Shatters Mass Comm BGS Record with 4.89 CGPA

By Success Essien, Jacinta Ijeoma, Stanley Mercy, Abdullahi Ramat, Dunoboh Pereware, and David Amarachi

Tosin Odunewu is a “big homebody” who loves her enjoyment. If you do not see her on campus for a week straight, it is probably because she was in her room chilling. But while the rest of the department was busy looking for her, she was busy making history. Tosin just finished as the best graduating student (BGS) in Mass Communication with a 4.89 CGPA, the highest score the department has ever seen.

“I’m not doing anything at the moment, I’m just trying to rest my head,” she said. For Odunewu, hitting that 4.89 was not about being a “bookworm” who lived in the library. In fact, she will be the first to tell you that libraries just do not work for her. Her journey was more about a “long game” that involved 10-minute study bursts on her phone and a deep faith that kept her from panicking when things got “choking.”

Things did not start out looking like a record-breaking run. In her first semester, Tosin saw a 60% in a major course, and it really shook her. In a department as competitive as Mass Communication, that one result made her feel like the top spot was miles away. For the first two years, she did not even think she was among the stars of the class.

The real shift happened in her second year, and it was not because of a new textbook. It was her faith as she described. “I’m a church girl,” she said plainly. She stopped panicking and started believing that her journey had a purpose. That faith turning point gave her the focus to stop looking at what others were doing and start fighting her own battles.

One of the most surprising things about Odunewu is that you would rarely find her in a library. To her, libraries are just not it. Instead, she mastered the art of pocket reading on her phone. Whenever she had 10 or 20 minutes of downtime, she was checking her materials.

“I read at least 30 minutes daily,” she explained. It sounds simple, but she did it every single day, even when she was exhausted. This consistency was the only way she could survive a heavy ALX program on the side while still keeping her grades at the top. She did not need hours of marathon reading; she just needed to be steady.

Success came with a heavy dose of “No.” To keep her 4.89 on track, she had to turn down leadership roles and job offers that many students would have jumped at. She even stayed away from JCI because she knew it would distract her from her target.

But even with her discipline, she hit a “breaking point” in 400 level. Juggling work and school at the same time led to her lowest grades ever, including two failing marks. It was a painful reminder that she could not do everything at once. “I had to play the long game,” she said. She chose to sacrifice the short-term money and titles to make sure she finished at the very top.

Odunewu is very open about the fact that she did not do this alone. Staying indoors so much often led to feelings of loneliness or even depression. In those moments, her support system became her “lifeline.” Whether it was her mentor, holding her accountable, or her friends bringing her food and reminding her to breathe, she refuses to take all the credit.

Her advice to others is to stop trying to be a “lone ranger.” She spent plenty of time in the DMs of the class scholars like Victor Chijioke, asking for explanations. “There’s no crime in asking questions… let me understand so that I’m not going to risk my mommy and my daddy’s money in this UNILAG.”

As she walks out of the gates of UNILAG, Odunewu is doing something she has not done in years, absolutely nothing. “I’m not doing anything at the moment. I’m trying to rest my head,” she laughed. The chase is over, and the history books have already been updated.

She is now turning her eyes toward the digital world, learning the ropes of SEO and email marketing to see if she can break records there, too. For Tosin, graduating as the best is more than a title to a name; it’s a story she is taking into the real world. It is even more proof that as long as you have your community and your faith, no ceiling is too high to break.