Oyindamola is very detail oriented and produced great results during her stay at University of Lagos.
Graduating Top of her class with the highest Cumulative Grade Point Average of
5.0 systems Engineering. She is the first female to achieve the perfect C.G.P.A
in the UNILAG’s history and also the
first engineering student to achieve such a feat in the faculty of engineering
at the prestigious University of Lagos. I sat with down for the woman of God in
the control laboratory where where she spent most of last weeks at UNILAG
finalizing her project to hear her story.
Seun Noibi: Seun Noibi here with Pastor Oyinda Omotuyi(I.G: t_damola) of Redeemed Christian Fellowship (RCF) University of Lagos (UNILAG) Chapter. Pastor Oyinda can you please introduce yourself to us.
Oyindamola Omotuyi: Omotuyi
Oyindamola Ajoke, Systems Engineering
Seun Noibi: You just
achieved a feat that quite a lot of people are wondering how you did it and not
just how you did it but going back to how you started, can you just us through
your story.
Oyindamola Omotuyi:
My whole life revolves around a man and that is Jesus. I would rather say
that there is really nothing…. People say God did it probably to end up a
particular story, it was good O! Olorun lo se(God did it O!) and something like
that and really not understand that actually God did it because all the while
through five years there was actually a particular wisdom to apply at every
particular time, that is the truth. So am not been religious by saying God did
it am just been truthful about it. So obviously there is wisdom to do
everything that you are supposed to do. A student obviously will obviously
read. A student will always go for overnight but yet there is just something
different about everybody. There is really nothing I will say there is an extra
thing I did but let me just say probably working with classmates, probably
reading with classmates and encouragements from friends like classmates from
people like Gbemi (present at the interview) (IG: @hadassah_pee) and Yemisi and
all of that. So that is what I will just say and let me put it like this, it is
not really about the 5.0 (Cumulative Grade Point Average CGPA) it is doing what
you are supposed to do at the right time
and doing the right thing at the right time. You know many students will just
go to Library and just read as in read but the question is are you reading the
right thing, what submits the result is you going to class, assignments and
exams. So if you can obviously have an A in exam obviously you have a 5.0
(CGPA). So what are the things that actually facilitate you passing your exams?
It is the question your lecturer probably gives you. Answering the question in
the right way, in the way that the lecturer wants to see it not the way you
want to right it actually helps out in winning some things. And not just
rushing to read, you can ride on the backs of people that have done it and not
be proud. And understand that you are a different person. Like when I was young
they said nobody had ever had an A in FSC 102 (Physics Practical) in Systems
(Engineering) and am like ok. They said the best person they have had never had
it. I said ok, that is them AM A DIFFERENT PERSON, WE HAVE A DIFFERENT PATH!
So I believe even if someone has not done it, someone can pick it up to do
it, that is the truth but then it is really not necessarily for show because
I stopped reading because I wanted to pass in year 3. Rather I started reading
because I needed to teach people because how will you be in a class and will
not understand the course. Eighty percent of the class will not understand the
course, so it was very terrible all these things. So sometimes you just have to
read because you have to teach people. Sometimes you just the call come and
teach me something and that thing you have not read it. So I had a lot of that
and I had to teach them on the spot.
Seun Noibi: As a young
black woman, where you are in a field that has very few black women, in fact
very few women to be precise, what will you say to the young girl out there
that maybe doesn’t even want to go into engineering? Maybe wants to go into
another field but she is scared of a field where it is mainly male dominated.
What will you tell them?
Oyindamola Omotuyi:
Engineering is mainly not for the males so to speak, it is for both genders.
I did not really see anything we did that was solely for males. Ok probably
when we were in year one and had to cut with a saw. You can obviously do it. It
actually just depends to the field that you are actually going into. There are
some fields that probably are very mechanical but then let me just put it has
this. Anyone that wants to come for engineering that is a female can obviously
come, because it is actually sweeter, better. I didn’t like medicine, because I
didn’t like reading. I like calculations. So that is the best place to go to!
So if your best subject is Mathematics and Further Mathematics Engineering is
the best place for you. So it is not hard labour like people use to think
engineering is. In fact it is more technical. You can be in engineering and you
are a programmer and obviously programming involves thinking and everybody can
think. Either you are a male or a female. So there is no gender inequality.
Seun Noibi: Tell us a
little bit about your background? What helped you maybe when you were in
secondary school, in primary school?
Oyindamola Omotuyi:
Ok let me say it all started from secondary school. I had a very good
family. My father is a Jack-o-meter
Seun Noibi: You dad was
a Jack-o-meter?
Oyindamola Omotuyi:
Meaning he could read till day break. Do you understand?
Seun Noibi: So people
don’t know the meaning of Jack-o-meter
(Laughter)
Oyindamola Omotuyi:
So that atmosphere was always at home that you had to be serious. In
Primary School you don’t eat when you get home until you have done your assignment,
you get what I mean, they were strict. Secondary school was a bite kind of, ok
let me put it like this when I first finished primary school I felt my primary
school was not that ok for me because I was teaching some things that were not
right, not right, not really correct like that. So I just felt I was duller,
probably entering secondary school I felt I should be the worst student. In
fact I liked staying at the back. I like being the person that they will flog.
I like just being very naughty. In fact I was very very naughty.
(Laughter)
Oyindamola Omotuyi:
Untill somebody came to meet me that you are always staying at the back
why don’t you come to the front. One of the reasons was because the people the
grade of people that entered secondary school with me were from very high and
reputable school. You hear Apata Memorial High School.
(Laughter)
Oyindamola Omotuyi: But now If
I tell you the name of my primary school
Seun Noibi: What is the
name of your primary school?
Oyindamola Omotuyi:
Funbol Nursery and primary School
Seun Noibi: Fun what?
(Laughter)
Oyindamola Omotuyi:
See that is the point
Seun Noibi: Please say
it again
Oyindamola Omotuyi:
Funbol Nursery and primary School
Seun Noibi: Am sure
they are proud of you right now
Oyindamola Omotuyi:
I don’t know if they still exist
Seun Noibi: Where was
your primary school located?
Oyindamola Omotuyi:
Jakande Estate. The lecturer, the teacher rather probably said I should
spell something and I started following from that. One day they were asking a
kind of question, am a very very shy person I don’t like talking in class. They
were asking a question, I knew did answer but I didn’t like to talk. The
teacher just picked on me that how far answer the question now and I was like ok.
After a while I answered the question and they said I was correct and I was
happy. As in that changed the orientation that you can actually be successful,
you can actually do it.
Seun Noibi: Wow
Oyindamola Omotuyi:
The Lord had it that I passed through a particular path. My secondary
school was all beautiful. I had first position from Junior Secondary School
1(J.S.S 1) to Senior Secondary School 3 (S.S.S 3)
Seun Noibi: Wow
Oyindamola Omotuyi:
So coming to University was just a continuation of what had happened.
Seun Noibi: Do you
sometime feel like a lot of students are not doing well in school or are not
doing as well as they should be doing in school because they have not gotten
that re-affirmation from people that they can do it? That they can achieve
greatness, that they are smart.
Oyindamola Omotuyi:
Sometimes encouragement is always good. Some people probably in their
family get discouraged. Especially when they compare you with somebody, so even
your little effort, even if it is been seen and been encouraged that is a way
of getting people to do better.
Seun Noibi: What
secondary school did you attend?
Oyindamola Omotuyi:
SMA college.
Seun Noibi: SMA
college, where was that located?
Oyindamola Omotuyi:
Jakande Estate
Seun Noibi: So you grew
up in Jakande Estate?
Oyinda Omotuyi: No I didn’t
but I started my secondary school, is it secondary school or primary school? I
was in primary school when I was in (Jakande) Estate but I didn’t start my
primary school in estate, I started my primary school in Ejigbo (Lagos)
Seun Noibi: So what
made you pick Systems Engineering of all the Engineering degrees?
Oyindamola Omotuyi:
Ok first of all I wanted to go for engineering and I wanted to go for a
course that I will be doing computer anything computer and anything electrical.
Systems Engineering is a combination and fortunately it is only University of
Lagos (UNILAG) that is doing the course.
Seun Noibi: Wow, then
or now?
Oyindamola Omotuyi:
In Nigeria
Seun Noibi: Till now
Oyindamola Omotuyi:
I don’t know but I guess till now
Seun Noibi: So you
actually picked systems engineering?
Oyindamola Omotuyi:
Yes
Seun Noibi: On your
Joint Admission Matriculation (JAMB) Form?
Oyindamola Omotuyi:
Yes
Seun Noibi: Wow!
Oyindamola Omotuyi:
Yes like Wow!
(Laughter)
Seun Noibi: So tell me
about that JAMB experience. Did you have to do JAMB three times like everybody
else?
Oyindamola Omotuyi:
Ok The year I did JAMB was a year of examinations, that is what I will
call it. January was pre-mock, February was Mock, March was Mock, April to May
was West African Senior School Certificate Exam (WASSCE), June was JAMB Exam,
June to July was Nigerian Examination Council (NECO) Exam. Then September to
October was General Certificate of Education (GCE) then October was resumption
into UNILAG!
Seun Noibi: Wow!
Oyindamola Omotuyi: Yea so it was a year of examinations! So
obviously I did JAMB only once and I scored 315 (out of 400)
Seun Noibi: You just mentioned 315 like…
Oyindamola Omotuyi: like?
Seun Noibi: Like it was 206?
(Both Laugh)
Seun Noibi: So JAMB 315, a primary school that nobody
knows, it sounds like a story of greatness out of a low-key background?
Oyindamola Omotuyi: Exactly, so everything started from primary
four. I know I was best in my class four. Also I worked on challenge in my
secondary school.
Seun Noibi: What is challenge?
Oyindamola Omotuyi: Ok there was a day they called a girl to our
assembly ground and they were like this girl, she was in Junior Secondary
School Three (J.S.S 3) celebrating WAEC for J.S.S 3 and all that and they were
like this girl, I think I was in J.S.S 1. This girl had first position first
term then second position second term I was like why is there an A.C current?
Seun Noibi: You understood A.C current back then?
Oyindamola Omotuyi: No I didn’t
Seun Noibi: Ok
Oyindamola Omotuyi: But later I wanted a D.C current, constant
something. And there are sometime it is not just about a first position. Just
like UNILAG, Seventy and Hundred is still an A but you wont know the gravity of
all those things until you probably go abroad. Abroad A is like 90 to 94
Seun Noibi: Yes
Oyindamola Omotuyi: 90 to 94 is actually
Seun Noibi & Oyinda Omotuyi: A (minus)
Oyindamola Omotuyi: So like that, my sister was just calling one
day and asking is it possible for someone to get 10/10 in all those subjects? I
was like hmmn just try it out
Seun Noibi: Hmmmn
Oyindamola Omotuyi: Secondary School was just trying lots of
things out but University was majorly based on faith, you know…wisdom of God.
Seun Noibi: So now back to that faith. You graduated still
with your 5.0 CGPA and if I remember correctly you were and executive in your
fellowship the last two or three years?
Oyindamola Omotuyi: Last two years
Seun Noibi: How did you balance faith and school?
Oyindamola Omotuyi: Ok let me put it like this, year four was a
bit ok but I was both assistant in both places
Seun Noibi: Assistant in what?
Oyindamola Omotuyi: Assistant Drama Coordinator in RCF UNILAG,
Assistant Academic and Library Secretary in Engineering Student Christian
Association (I.G @escaunilag)
Seun Noibi: Ok
Oyindamola Omotuyi: So I was basically just an assistant. And
obviously you know the right thing to do at the right time so just do it! That
is the truth. Let me put it like this, everybody has twenty four hours, it just
depends on the way you use it. And there is always a direction there is always
a leading, there is always a structure. I sometime know when it is time to
read. You just know. But year five was very tedious, trust me I was actually at
a point let it just end, trust me
(Laughter)
Oyindamola Omotuyi: At a point I had to miss classes and all of
that
Seun Noibi: Wow!
Oyindamola Omotuyi: But then thank God for, when I say thank God
for some people, thank God for them mehn. They were just there and do what I am
supposed to be doing. So probably, sometime I didn’t have to cook.
Seun Noibi: So final year you were vice president at rcf
Oyindamola Omotuyi: At RCF (I.G @rcfunilag) and Academic and
Library at ESCA (I.G @escaunilag)
Seun Noibi: Engineering Student Christian Association
Oyindamola Omotuyi: Yes
Seun Noibi: You said a lot about faith; you said a lot
about God, do you think you could have still achieved this if you were not a
Christian?
Oyindamola Omotuyi: For me, I would say that it won’t have been
possible
Seun Noibi: Why is that?
Oyindamola Omotuyi: For me I don’t know how to be if there is a
Life without God. I don’t know, trust me. No don’t trust me
(Laughter)
Oyindamola Omotuyi: Trust me I don’t know. I just know that if
there was no God along the way I would have given up. I had breaking points,
three breaking points. All of them were electrical courses, electrical,
electrical then computer engineering. They were breaking points, a day before
my exam I would see test result 9/30. A day before the exam!
(Laughter)
Oyindamola Omotuyi: What should I read for the exam? Or you see
5/40. What else? If it weren’t for God this wouldn’t have happened that is the
simple truth.
Seun Noibi: The reason why I ask that is we have to be
truthful am a student also here too and you see a lot of people that are
actively with God on campus but it is not really showing in their Grade Point
Average (GPA). To those people what will you tell them? They are serving God
but it is not showing in their GPA
Oyindamola Omotuyi: Ok, it really depends. Let me put it like
this. For you to have a very good GPA sometime you department is a factor. Do
you understand? I will rather say as long as you have done your own part and it
is glaring that this is what you are supposed to do and this is what you are
supposed to get and this is what the Lord will have you get, fine it doesn’t
have to be a first class, doesn’t have to be a second class. So in fact if I
had finished with a 5.0 CGPA without God probably I will be miserable. So what
am saying is that it is not really about the GPA being high or low. Let it be
glaring that, I have done my own part, then it now look like oh it was the
lecturer, it was the department. And some cases like that the Lord will leave
it like that probably just to tell you some things. The Lord is not interested
in you failing. The Lord is interested in you passing. Let me put it like that.
Seun Noibi: Now finally, thanks so much for your time.
Future plans, what are you planning on doing?
Oyindamola Omotuyi: Systems engineering is a very good course, in
fact it has very great prospect. Probably Nigeria has not yet gone through or
sourced out its value in Nigeria, because the three major aspects in UNILAG are
control, operation research and robotics. I think I missed one, Simulation and
modelling. So now these areas have not been explored and there are a lot of
areas. If you ask me what I will like to do I would rather like to explore in
all of those areas. They are a lot, computer vision, my project was based on
robotics, a drone and all of that, so there a lot of prospects. Going abroad
for masters is a good idea. It is a good prospect to be able to go into this
field very well.
Seun Noibi: Thanks so much for your time.
