FAILURES ARE STEPPING STONE TO SUCCESS

Then WASC/WAEC were really a test of the best brains. Getting straight As in 8 subjects was an achievement for the likes of Ahmad Sarkis, one in a century. Some of the brilliant minds would barely manage to scrape in 5 or 6 credits with P7 or two passes. Most end up with 2 - 4 credits and the rest will be passes. Such persons will still get admission in the university to read courses they never planned to have in their cap feathers. Those who insist on reading a course they desire, such as I, would go for remedials. However, like Prof. Abdalla Uba Adamu pointed out, guys like him found their rhymes and rhythms, eventually hitting their peaks and coming out on top of their classes, carting home awards, job offers and even scholarships to study abroad. I was one of them. Unlike now, where a student will pass out of secondary school with 8 or 9As only to end up at the middle or lower end of a table at a university of his or her choice. Lecturers use to be amazed. That was when they discovered such students results were often fake Matters got worse when NECO came on board as an examination body. Students with As and Bs in all subjects would find it difficult to gain admission into universities, repeat JAMB 5 or 6 times and still fail, and get frustrated out of their academic pursuits. So sad. And soon what eventually came to pass? Parents started sending their wards to get educated abroad due to persistent strike actions by ASUU which often prolong a 3-4 years course to 5-6 years before graduation and NYSC. Anyways, all that is history now. Many get a degree or 2 or even 3 and because they are never prepared to use the knowledge they acquire as a base upon which to use and become self employed and eventual employers of labour, non-graduates now fair better. Like our elders would say, there's nothing wrong with a child falling down. All he needs do is get up, dust off the dirt and continue to walk or run to his destination. If however the child fail to get off the ground and move on, then something is terribly, definitely amiss. So, worry not about failure or missing out on an opportunity. A better ootion is coming your way, that's why you missed the first one or a lesson is being taught to you, experience is being added to your personal development pool to make you a better goal getter.