A young Nigerian man, Abdulrauf Idris, has finally gained admission to study Law at the University of Ibadan after writing the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination multiple times. His story has gone viral on social media, with many congratulating him for his perseverance.
Background and Struggles
Abdulrauf Idris completed secondary school in 2021 but failed Literature-in-English in his O-level exams. This subject is a core requirement for Law admission, rendering his results invalid. Determined to pursue his dream, he registered for the General Certificate Examination in late 2022 but scored between E8 and D7, still failing to meet the requirement.
Initial Attempts at JAMB
Despite his setbacks, he wrote the JAMB exam mostly for experience and scored 247. He then registered for the University of Ibadan Post-UTME, scoring 65 out of 100, with an aggregate of 63.375. However, the cut-off mark was 67.25, so he missed admission. He accepted the outcome and decided to start over.
Renewed Efforts and Challenges
In 2024, while preparing to retake the exams, the UI admissions office called to offer him admission, but he had not uploaded his GCE result on the JAMB portal because it was not valid for Law. The school portal showed admission, but JAMB did not recognize it, leading to another disappointment.
He resolved to try again, scoring 289 in UTME and excelling in WAEC and NECO. He relocated to Ibadan a month before the Post-UTME for tutorials. However, three weeks before the exam, he was robbed, losing his phone, laptop, and work tools. Despite this, he focused on passing the exam.
Final Success
On exam day, he scored 62 out of 100, but his aggregate was 0.1 marks below the cut-off. He fell into a dark place but eventually recovered. He was offered Political Science but declined, determined to pursue Law.
He wrote UTME again and scored 299. He arrived in Ibadan two weeks early, locked in completely, and scored 75 out of 100 in the Post-UTME, with an aggregate of 74.875, well above the cut-off of 67.25. When the cut-off was later raised to 70.875, he was still four points clear.
Motivation and Impact
Abdulrauf stated that being the first person in his bloodline to pursue a professional course kept him going. His story has inspired many on social media, with numerous users congratulating him for his resilience.
In related news, the best graduating student of Lagos State University also shared her admission struggles, while another graduate staged a one-man protest over unemployment.
