UNILAG Overall Best Graduating Student Speaks on His Journey in Faculty of Management Sciences

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

When Benedict Umeozor walked into the University of Lagos in 2019, he felt like he was starting on the back foot. He had not planned to be in the Faculty of Management Sciences; his heart was set on Economics. But when that door stayed shut, he found himself in Business Administration, carrying a secret worry that he was not cut out for the math-heavy side of the course.

“I initially wrote JAMB the first time, choosing Economics. That was what I wanted to study… unfortunately, I was not admitted,” Umeozor said, recalling the early disappointment. “I didn’t want a situation where I was just waiting.” He decided to move forward with Business Administration, but he soon realised that the calculations he had spent his life avoiding were waiting for him in the lecture halls of UNILAG.

The first year was a wake-up call. He admits that math had always been his lowest score in secondary school, and he almost brought that same avoidant attitude to the university. But the COVID-19 lockdown forced him to rethink his strategy.

“In that time of inactivity from school, I had to rethink things. If I want to achieve this goal that I have set for myself, then I need to try to like math,” he recalled saying to himself. He turned to YouTube, specifically looking for creators who had social proof or credibility. “I discovered channels like Organic Tutorial. I came to like calculations… whenever there are not so many calculations in my classroom, I’m usually not happy.”

Umeozor is quick to point out that his journey was not a solo run. In his first year, he felt like he didn’t know many people, but a study group he formed with friends named Joseph and Grace changed everything. That group eventually birthed a more structured circle in his 200-level called “Achievers,” which played a massive role in keeping his focus sharp.

“If you try to motivate yourself, you can always do it, but not all the time,” he admitted. “But when I see friends who are also looking towards the same goal, it kind of pressures me that I should also be doing that rather than wasting my time.” This group did not just help him study; it became a platform for him to give back. He became the lead tutor, teaching junior students from Year 1 up to Year 4. “I’ve been tutoring since my first year. Every time I go a level higher, I teach the previous level.”

The real test of Umeozor’s discipline came during the eight-month ASUU strike. While the campus went quiet, he felt the urge to move. He saw young people online finding success in tech and decided to dive in, despite having no background in software development.

“I felt redundant, and so I wanted to learn a skill,” he said. “A degree gives you identity, but skills give you movement. If all you have is the degree, you might wait for an opportunity. When you have skills too, you can go and meet it.” He eventually found a “middle ground” in Fintech, a space where his business degree and his new coding skills could meet.

But being a top student, a lead tutor, and a fintech professional came with a heavy price tag. Umeozor is refreshingly blunt about the fact that “having it all” is a myth. For him to finish as UNILAG’s overall BGS, he had to make a conscious choice about what to sacrifice.

“There’s no way you can do everything at the same time. Some aspects of my life suffered… my social life sat down,” he said. “It’s not possible that you do everything. Something will suffer, and then something will grow.” He managed his time by reading ahead of every semester so that when work deadlines got tight, his grades would not slip. “When I am ahead academically, I don’t feel much pressure.”

As he graduates as the best in his faculty, Umeozor’s final message to UNILAG students is to look past the “noise” and the derogatory remarks people sometimes throw at scholars. He believes that mindset is everything, especially when your first plan does not work out.

“Society has a different understanding… they try to put you away from your goal with remarks like ‘scholars only eat records,” he laughed. “Just regard those things as noise.” Looking back at his own shift from Economics to Business Administration, his philosophy remains simple: “If one door closes, do not just stand there. Walk around and find the next entrance.”