Meet the 1st first class graduate of History in UI since 1948

Ekele who is a 2016 graduate of the University finished with 6.6 Cumulative Grade Point Average out of 7.0.

Speaking to Pulse about his academic feat, Ekele said he was not aware of the fact that no student has never made first class in the department when he came to the University of Ibadan adding that he only came to gain knowledge.

He said, I made 6.8 in my 100 level and it was that time when everybody was talking about it that I realised that between 1948 and now there has been no first class in History.

Attributing his academic success to God and diligence, Ekele said he made sure he never missed a class.

It took the grace of God and hard work to achieve this feat. It takes diligence too, a man has to be diligent in his work and I think this helped me a lot because I did everything I am supposed to do at the right time, finish assignments, attend lectures, in fact, I never missed a class.

Ekele who described himself as an introvert said his experience at the University of Nigeria Nnsuka, where he studied Mass Communication also helped him to be focus on his studies at the University of Ibadan.

ALSO READ: UI makes 43.3m from post utme screening

Explaining why he chose to have a second degree in History instead of proceeding for his Master program, Ekele said he had always wanted to study history in a school that produced the likes of Wole Shoyinka, Chinua Achebe and Christopher Okigbo.

UI is the home of completeness and when I say completeness I talk of people like Achebe, Okigbo and Shoyinka. People who have sold Nigeria to the world. I think any reasonable human being would want to be associated with their great achievement. I think of myself now as a complete man."

Ekele who had studied Mass Communication at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka before coming to the Premier University to study History also believes UI is the only academic institution in the country that applies a different approach to teaching History.

''UI is the home of analytical history. Our emphasis is analysis rather than narrative. It is about the questions on What and Why. What applies to the narratives while why applies to analysis.

"If you ask now when did Nigeria gain independence, everybody will chorus 1960, that is the question what. That is the narrative. But why did colonial masters decide to give us Independence, that is a why question. Then, you will begin to have a lot of answers, that'll lead to different opinions. That is what UI emphasises as far as History is concerned. The University of Ibadan has the best History department in Nigeria."

The History department of the University has not produced a first class student since 1948