How I emerged UDUS best-graduating female student with 4.87 CGPA — 22-year-old Haleemah
Haleemah Hamzah, a 22-year-old indigene of Ilorin, the capital city of Kwara state, had wanted to study Medicine and Surgery at Usmanu Danfodiyo University Sokoto (UDUS).
Despite scoring 284 in the 2018 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), her preferred course was changed. Instead, she was made to find love in Biochemistry.
Due to Haleemah’s passion for medicine, she worked hard in her 100-level just to be among the top five students in her department with the hope of crossing into medicine. But, her hope was dashed when she found out crossing into medicine is not realistic in her university.
Because of medicine, she earned herself a 4.82 Grade Point (GP) out of the 5.0 grading system in the 100-level. Despite the disappointment, she never despairs. Her Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) moved up to 4.85 in the 200-level, 4.90 in the 300-level and finally graduated with a 4.87 CGPA.
“We were many in 100-level that had first-class, but as time went on, we dropped drastically in 300-level. The level was regarded as the hardest but that was when I had the perfect 5.0GP,” Haleemah narrated.
Her wish since 2018 was to be among those who would give testimony to academic excellence.
While talking about her motivation to chase academic excellence, she said, “In 2019, I saw a lady who graduated as the best graduating student of her school. Since then, I have aimed to be the best-graduating student of my set. This was my motivation right from time. My parents are intellectuals, especially my mom. She graduated with distinction and made it to the top five in her class even at the postgraduate level while engaging in other tasks. I am always motivated by her level of intelligence.”
Usmanu Danfodiyo University Sokoto (UDUS) is one of the public universities established by the military regime of General Muritala Muhammad in September 1975. This second-generation university is situated in the seat of the caliphate, Sokoto state.
At its just-concluded 2022/2023 academic session, Abdulganiyu Abdulrahman Akanbi, a graduate of Islamic Studies emerged as the overall best-graduating student of the university with a 4.96 CGPA in the male category while Haleemah Hamzah, a graduate of Biochemistry emerged as the overall best-graduating student of the university in the female category.
Moreover, out of the seven first-class recent graduates of Biochemistry, of whom six of them are females with one male, Haleemah stood out as the best as she also triumphed as the best-graduating student of the entire faculty of chemical and life sciences.
