By Mutalib Jibril
A few days back, I stumbled upon a post about two graduates from a particular university in Nigeria who went for a job interview. On getting to the venue, they started interrogating some workers in the organisation about the qualifications of the interviewer.
Unfortunately, the interviewer overheard their conversations and prepared to daze them with some basic questions in English, which he noticed most graduates usually struggle with. In no time, the interview commenced. It was a written test. They were handed their questions, and then they answered the questions.
Behold! They could not reach the cutoff mark, and they failed the questions. This is just one funny instance out of a thousand and one of how students often think their university is the best or better than others.
I agree that some universities are better than others in infrastructure, research innovations, and achievements. This is why we do have a university ranking annually.
However, I can categorically state that all universities have met the benchmark; better still, they have fulfilled all the criteria set by the Nigerian Universities Commission (NUC).
Any university that does not meet the set criteria for a particular course—let’s say Radiography, for instance, wouldn’t be accredited. Therefore, any institution running that course has met the requirements and been subsequently accredited by NUC.
Therefore, most students are oblivious that what makes an individual student stand out from their peers from other institutions is mainly tied down to individual sacrifices and effort.
This is not to say that the university doesn’t have a role in making students exceptional. No! Even if you attend the best university in Nigeria, the onus still lies on you to make yourself stand out. The school cannot teach you everything.
However, no matter the university you find yourself in, develop yourself and stand out.
It doesn’t matter if your university has the lowest ranking in the country; I know that no university would be accredited without meeting the requirements. Some standards must be met.
What matters is what you can do to ensure you are prepared for life after university and stand out.
Many people graduated from the least-ranking universities in Nigeria but are doing exceptionally well academically in Nigeria and abroad.
I have never heard of a scenario where a third-class graduate from a top-rated university is selected for a job over a first-class graduate from the lowest-rated university—I’m not talking about connections here. I am talking about employment based on merit.
It’s high time we stopped making unnecessary comparisons about universities. Let’s channel that energy toward making our self-development.
Mutalib Jibril wrote via mutalibdantanisabi300@gmail.com.