Tag: my experience

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Journey to my Doctorate Degree

A Nigerian-South African, Odilile PL Ayodele shares briefly steps toward earning a doctorate degree in a South African University. She is a wife, and mother of two good children, this adds a lively twist to her postgraduate journey.
Article was originaly posted on Sayas Blog.
I have always been interested in how culture and context intersect and affect every part of human interaction. I was born to a South African mother and Nigerian father and learned practical ‘diplomacy 101’ within my extended family.
I am currently finishing up my doctoral studies with the SARChi Chair for African Diplomacy and Foreign Policy at the University of Johannesburg. I am a pilot’s wife and have two small children.
My journey to my doctorate isn’t the most conventional: I earned a Masters degree in International Relations from WITS, I went to work (because that is what was expected from me) then decided to be a stay-at-home mum (not so expected) while I reimagined what I wanted my future to look like. Unlike, many of my colleagues, I undertook the PhD not for prestige, or to begin the arduous journey towards the increasingly elusive tenured position, but rather to redirect my path and gain a new set of skills.
This journey has given me a lot more in my professional and personal life than I could have ever imagined; I am definitely not the same person coming out that I was going in.
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TOUGHEST NIGERIAN POSTGRADUATE SCHOOLS

 

Toughest, or slowest, or most difficult, anything you call it, but its not just NICE. Postgraduate programmes are by design, made intellectually tasking. It is expected to stretch the postgraduate scholar in a rigorous education that involves research, either at masters, doctoral (PhD) or post doctoral fellowship.

However, any thing Nigerian bears its flavour. Postgraduate study in some Nigerian Universities is the definition of frustration, in an environment filled with sadist. Stories abound of students spending 5/6 years for a Masters degree or between 10-12 years for a PhD. This is a list of our Nigerian universities notorous for intentionally frustrating students. You can add yours based on your experience.
    1. OBAFEMI AWOLOWO UNIVERSITY, ILE IFE (OAU): This first generation Nigerian university tops the list for the toughest school to obtain a Masters/M.Phil/PhD. OAU has no known academic calender that it follows
      . Student activism that ends up in disruption and school shut down is rife. For a Postgraduate student, you only know when you get matriculated, as graduation can be timeless. Beyond this, OAU is an institution filled with a lot of sadists lecturers. They take pleasure in making students frustrated, all in the name of building standards.  Though, a little cheap in tuition, postgraduate students pay in form of emotion break down and extra long years. Obtaining a PhD in record time is abnormal in OAU.
    1. UNIVERSITY OF CALABAR: UNICAL as it is fondly called is not a welcoming university for good postgraduate study. The school is rife with a lot of corruption, that frustrates diligent students. In some cases, thesis supervisors demand cash in order to read their students’ thesis work. Even with all the cash/yam/bush meat for marks, it is still difficult to round up a Master study within 2 years.
    1. AHMADU BELLO UNIVERSITY: ABU is one of Nigeria’s best universities located in Zaria. ABU’s stress comes mainly from the religious angle. Non muslims must be prepared to go extra mile, especially when dealing with fanatic Muslim lecturers, who have an unreasonable hatred for non Muslims. Also, Ahmadu Bello University and other research institute around Zaria have some of the top grade functional science/medical research facilities in Nigeria, so a thorough postgraduate work is expected, no matter the cost or time constraint.
    1. OLABISI ONABANJO UNIVERSITY: OOU or OSU is an all comers school. It seems like the school was established to rake in money for the people in charge. OOU has all kinds of part time, sand wish, and weekend programmes at undergraduate and some times postgraduate level. This is aside the regular postgraduate programme. Unfortunately, the school does not have the academic man power to cater for it large student population.
    1. UNIVERSITY OF PORT HARCOURT
  1. Add yours
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The Stress and Success: South African Shares Postgraduate Experience

A South African shares in relaxed tone, her experience studying for a Masters degree. In Nigeria & else where, the postgraduate research stress of choosing a research topic, proposals, laboratory & field work and many others are very similar. Article was originally posted on Sayas

 After the First Storm

I was born in the Eastern
Cape, to parents that are both educators. Which kind of explains why I love being in the know. They gave me the name Siphokazi, which directly translates to “a very big gift”

Awesome is it not? I guess that is what I am to the Nyeleka family, my clan. Growing up, my siblings and I were not allowed to be without a book (school books didn’t count!) and school was non-negotiable, unless of course we were feeling under the weather.
My parents have always encouraged me to pursue postgraduate studies – following in their footsteps. So by the time I graduated with BSc Animal Production Science, I needed very little encouragement to continue with my studies. I was already hooked by academia! With the final persuasion coming from my supervisor, I decided to enrol for an MSc degree in Animal Production Science with special interest in broilers.

Why broilers? You may ask… Well, back in the day my grandmother ran a poultry farm for more than a decade, but she had to shut it down due to ever rising feed costs. The whole experience was frustrating for me because I watched her let go of something she truly loved, particularly because she used the farm as means to give the village women financial security. So when the opportunity came for me to try and find alternative ways to help people like my grandmother, I grabbed it with both hands. Thus, my MSc research focuses on using alternative protein sources in broiler diets, with the ultimate goal of feed cost reduction.

To my surprise, though, the whole process of developing a research concept has been very challenging for me. Developing a proposal was supposed to be as straight-forward as writing that final exam at the end of the year… What I found to be exceptionally challenging was that I knew what I wanted to do, however developing a research concept around it was very tricky. How could I distill my thoughts into an idea that was testable, workable, valuable, in the space of a single degree…?

What kept me going back to the drawing board was and still is the ultimate goal and that is to make a difference. Giving up would not only be letting myself down, but my grandmother too and that is something I would never be able to live with. I guess it is true that “ Anyone who says sunshine brings happiness has never danced in the rain, ” because the happiness I felt after an approved proposal is beyond description.

My second year promises to be an interesting adventure, with more trials and some lab work. I look forward to it, really. Do I still think I can solve the world’s problems? Yes! But like RJ Benjamin says in one of his songs “Changing the world, One day at a time…” I guess in my case its one broiler at a time.

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Obiefuna Jeremiah Wins Best PhD Thesis Award at UNILAG Convocation

The award of higher degrees (Pgd, Masters and PhD) by the school of postgraduate studies at University of Lagos was held on Thursday 26th January.

At the postgraduate convocation, Mr Obiefuna, Jeremiah Nwabufo from the department of Geography had the best PhD thesis.

Jeremiah received his Bachelor’s degree in Cartography from the University of Wiscosin, in the United States. He bagged a Master of Landscape Architecture from the University of Georgia Athens, also in the U.S.

Mr. Obiefuna’s research thesis was on the topic, ‘Environmental Challenges Facing Urban Development on Lekki Pennisula Barrier Island. Lagos, Nigeria.

The best PhD thesis award comes with a cash prize of 50,000 naira. From Postgraduate Nigeria we say big congrats to an erudite scholar.

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Pastor E.A Adeboye Bags PhD from UNN

51 years after dropping out, Adeboye bags Phd from UNN,  The Punch reports.
The revered minister of God, shared about his ambition to study at University of Nigeria, as an undergraduate. His dream came true in 1963 but left in 1966, to University of Ife (now OAU) bag a B.Sc in Mathematics.
His words, “I left UNN in 1966 without a degree.
“Sixty years later, I have gotten a degree from UNN, now not a first degree but a doctorate degree.
“That is why I feel elated.  I am overwhelmed,” he said.  
Though, it had always being believed he had his first degree at UNN, before becoming a lecturer at University of Ilorin and University of Lagos, where he also bagged a PhD in Applied Mathematics.

Pastor Adeboye used that opportunity to hold a day time, campus Holy Ghost Night. Congrats Daddy G.O

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FUNKY-FRIDAY: THE PHD MOVIE

Getting a PhD, especially in Nigeria is known to be rigorous and stressful. But between the course of the study, we can still have fun, moreso, when it inspires us to strive on to get the PhD. Enter in- PHD MOVIE.
The film, The PhD Movie is produced by Jorge Cham and focuses on the lives of four postgraduate students as they navigate the tricky world of post-graduate education. The cast, setting and plot feel authentic; and virtually all the actors are actual graduate students. The movie was shot at the California Institute of Technology.
The Nameless Grad Student and his group must travel to an important academic conference and square off against a rival group as they compete for results and grant money. Meanwhile, Cecilia’s advisor is going on sabbatical, which means she has to finish writing her thesis or be stuck in grad school another year. There are some great lines throughout the movie, such as when The Nameless Gradaute Student explains to his father, “I’m basically paying the university so I can do free work for them.” The target audience is of course students that can identify with graduate school life; however, the humor, quick pace, and convincing acting ensure that the film can appeal to just about anyone.

Struggling with a work-life balance, uncertainty about the future, and deflated expectations are all parts of life that we have to deal with. Add to that an unimpressed advisor, failing laboratory equipment, and a lack of academic job openings, and you’re talking about grad school.

Sometimes the best ideas arise when we are distracted, so the solution to your academic problems could be a bowl of popcorn and The PhD Movie. Enjoy!
You can stream the video by clicking here
Excerpt here
Photo source www.phdmovie.com