From Adversity to Triumph: The inspiring story of Abdulrasheed Akere 

As Jambito stepped into the campus of Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, a cool breeze gently caressed their face as they met their Morocco partner (girlfriend). However, Akere denied himself the pleasure of exploring Morocco, prioritizing his goal of securing a first-class degree. 

“I was only determined to have first class at 100-level to the extent that I didn’t have a girlfriend or join extracurricular activities;  just because I wanted to have CGPA,” he disclosed.

The former Editor-in-chief of Pen Press, Abdulrasheed Abdulkareem Akere asserted that organizing tutorials for his coursemates and students from other departments like Biochemistry and Physics helped him greatly because he believed that, “teaching is a way of life.”

“I did a lot of tutorials for people. So, I learned that helping people is by helping yourself. Because teaching is the way of living life and it really helped me. At times I would teach people from another department. I did that for biology, physics, and most of the courses, even biochemistry, I would do that at that time,”he said.

Abdulrasheed Abdulkareem Akere has set a record for being the first Editor-in-chief (EIC) at Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto by graduating with a topnotch grade, at department of Education Biology for 2023/2024 academic session. 

He gained admission into university in 2019 and  studied Education Biology. 

He vowed that since he’s not studying medicine or law, he must work harder to bag first class. He works toward his determination since his 100-level then, he focus on his academic, prayers and he bagged the Best male graduate of his set  

His journey at UDUS came with its own set of challenges. He endured a lot while pursuing his academic degree at the institution, both financial, emotional, health difficulties, anxiety difficulties, for instance, purchasing handwork which is one of the difficulties students endure, falling sick when there’s change in weather conditions, going through some challenges without finding a shoulder to lean on etcetera. 

“Financial difficulties, emotional, anxiety and health difficulties are the challenges I faced during my academic pursuit”. 

He further said: “Time management has also helped him because he knew the right time to speak, the time to do tutorials.”

During his 400-level period, when he was 

Editor of Pen Press, he had speculated time on everything. He also realized that being a Member of Pen Press or doing extracurricular activities is a way of helping people to expand their brain and their way of thinking beyond the classroom. So,all this helps him to have a wider range of knowledge.

Despite hard work and perseverance he was able to attain academic Excellence. Akere is a prominent figure on Danfodiyo campus, renowned for his impactful contributions to both academic and extracurricular activities. Notably he served as Editor-in-chief of Pen Press and also served as Social Media Officer 1 for the University Scholars’ Forum (USF) during his final year period. 

“ I know what I want and I work towards it, and the thing is just that I don’t allow anything to distract me, so it really helped me to grow. So, extracurricular activities were never a disturbance and can never be a disturbance to a determined and dedicated student who is ready to learn.”He boasted.

Akere, however, indicated that he believed that to have good grades in a course, the input should start from the test. However, to have a good CGPA, it must start by having A in GST courses.

“I believe that to have A, the input should start from the test. So, I didn’t score less than average in my test.  And to have a good CGPA, you must start from GST. Because if you don’t have A’s in GST, what are you expecting in other courses? So, I did the level GSTs from 1st level to 3rd level, and I had the level A’s and all these things have to boost my CGPA.”

However, the last time that the Education Biology department produced a First-class was in the 2020/2021 academic session which was about two years ago. Currently Haruna Hadizah and Abdulrasheed Abdulkareem Akere are the best graduating Students of 2023/2024 academic session. 

In an exclusive interview, he shared insight into his achievements. Akere bagged many awards during his academic period. In 2024, he got five awards which includes, JOA Editor-in-chief of Pen Press UDUS, Best Public Speaker of the year from Udus Debate Club, the most influential graduating Students, NACJ’s Editor of the year and Best Graduating Student, he disclosed.

He encouraged every student who wishes to achieve academic excellence to set a plan for themselves. And the most important thing is to prepare for life after graduation, you shouldn’t be an ordinary graduate with just a degree, you should have extracurricular activities experience, and also be sure that all the clubs you joined are aligned with what you want to do in life after Campus. You may plan, and if God doesn’t oppose it, it may not work out, so, let’s be prayerful, he affirmed.