As fortune smiles on her, Faizal’s scholarship
as stated by the Kano State Government, where she hails from, will
know no bounds, as it covers university education in any foreign
country to whatever level she wants.
Faizal, who was celebrated by her alma-mater,
Olumawu School, Abuja; had nine A1 in the May/June 2016 West African
Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination (WASSCE). She had A1
in English Language, Mathematics, Further Mathematics, Chemistry,
Physics, Biology, Computer Studies, Civic Education and Marketing.
The result was adjudged by her school and Kano State government as
the best ever in the state.
Famous universities
Faizal who spoke with our corresponded
said: ‘’I will like to study Medicine in any of the famous
universities abroad. Meanwhile, I have been offered admission by at
least seven universities in the United Kingdom and one university in
Egypt, to study medicine.’’
On her reading habit, Faizal who scored 226 in the
last JAMB said: ‘’I have no specific study hour because most
times I study until I get tired and often fall asleep.”
She, however disclosed that when preparing for
examination, she reads and takes a break every 30 minutes.
Her words: “My mother contributed greatly to my
academic success, because she encourages and grooms me. My father is
a businessman who paid my school fees.’’
On her part, Faizal’s mother, Mrs. Hadiza
Abubakar, who is a lawyer, described her daughter as a quiet,
reserved and responsible girl who has shown intelligence right from
her birth.
She said: ‘’I have not in anyway influenced
her because she has a mind of her own. Mine is just to guide her and
advise her. She is a young girl with an already set mind. I wanted
her to go into software engineering, but she said she wanted to read
Biomedical Engineering.
‘’I sat her down, looked at it and said that
if she goes for that, she will have a limited number of schools to
fit in. I advised her to go for Data Based Management course. “Being
a lawyer and working in the Identity Management sector. I saw an area
where she could go into, which is Data Base Management course, which
has to do with software. She had already made up her mind . If
Biomedical engineering is not available, she will go for medicine and
she has been on that.”
On the early marriage in the north, as opposed to
education, she said:
‘’I do not have a problem with early marriage
if the girl is already matured. The important thing is that whoever
is getting married should be focused.”
Hadiza who said her daughter takes after her said:
‘’Even though I got married at an early age, I knew where I
wanted to be and education was my primary focus. I achieved a lot in
education. I might not have been an A1 student like her, but I was
good in many courses in school.”
The governor of Kano State, Abdullahi Ganduje on
his part said: ‘’The scholarship is meant to cover her
undergraduate, postgraduate and doctorate degrees at any university
of her choice across the world. This gesture is to acknowledge merit
and to especially encourage girl-child education in our state.
Chosen endeavours
“The state government is making arrangements to
ensure that the gifted children are given opportunity to fully
exploit their potentials. We will continue to encourage our people to
achieve in their chosen endeavours and bring honour to their
families, the state and the nation at large.”
In her reaction, former Chief Justice of
Nigeria, Justice Aloma Muktar said that Faizal’s academic feat
boldly represents the new era for the girl child in Nigeria.
She said: “Once upon a time, girl child was a
second class member of her family and society but today, things have
changed for better as both sexes have equal opportunities to activate
their natural potentials and strive for the best in their life time”.
The Minister of Education, Alhaji Adamu
Adamu, charged Faizal to sustain the tempo of her excellent academic
feat by taking it to the realm of invention and end up being an
inventor who will do Nigeria proud in future.
He said: “We want you to go back to your books
on more serious template when you get to the university and repeat
this academic feat, entailing reading and researching and through it,
becoming an inventor who will do Nigeria proud in future.”
Also, Barrister Arome Audu, a member of the
School’s Governing Council who described Faizal’s academic feat
as one akin to the one attained by the founder of the school, the
late Chief (Mrs.) Margaret Oloruntomiwo Audu as a student at that
level in 1951, saying “Faizal is another Mrs. Audu in the making”.
“Faizal by this excellent result has made every
minute of her existence and in particular, of her schooling here in
Olumawu within the last six years counts. Therefore to all other
students of the school coming after her, let every minute of your
schooling count as well,” he said.
He commended the parents of Faizal for following
her up academically on the home front while schooling and preparing
for the examination and urged other parents to do likewise to their
children just as he saluted the teachers of the school for imparting
the right knowledge into her and others, culminating in their
excellent performance in both WAEC and NECO examinations.
Aggregate scoring
Meanwhile, in a reaction to this academic feat,
WAEC has said through its spokesman, Mr. Demianus Ojijeogu, that WAEC
has not officially announced the best WAEC candidate in the May/June
2016 examination.
His words: ‘’The information that Faizal is
the best student in the May/June 2016 WASSCE in Nigeria did not
emanate from us. There are other candidates in other schools that
also have nine As. We do not calculate the best in Nigeria based on
the numbers of As. We use aggregate. Scoring A in WASSCE has
categories. That Faizal has 9 As in does not make her the best
candidate in Nigeria. She could be the best candidate in her school,
but not even in Abuja or in Nigeria. WAEC will announce at the right
time.’’
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