By Safiu Kehinde
Former Minister of Aviation, Osita Chidoka has thrown caution to his wife against bringing her seniority near their bedroom after he bagged Law Degree at Base University, Abuja.
In a recent post he shared on Facebook, Chidoka expressed his joy after graduating with a Second Class Upper at the age of 50, while narrating his challenges of combining school with politics which nearly forced him to withdraw.
“Tough journey. Imagine moving from Federal Executive Council to classroom with under 20s. I wore black trousers and a white shirt daily. Made an effort to enter the class before the lecturers, submitted assignments as at due dates,” he wrote.
The former minister described his school experience as a “humbling” encounter, revealing how he absconded school to run for governorship election and manage Atiku’s campaign election centre before coming back. He described those periods as moment of distraction.
He added that it got to a stage where he had to retake a course regardless of his familiarity with the Professor in charge of the course.
Chidoka said, “School was not without its setbacks. On the campaign trail for the 2019 elections, I struggled with school work but thought I could wing it. Alas, I failed Evidence 1 taught by my friend Prof. Ojukwu. He refused to give me makeup midterm tests that I missed. Whenever I approached him, he would cheerfully gist and analyse the elections with me.
“After each discussion, I went away confident he would reconsider. He did not. I went into the exam with 0/30. It was humbling, as I had not experienced examination failure before then. I nearly withdrew.”
Eventually, he retook the course without any preferential treatment under the tutelage of his Professor friend.
“I persevered. I re-registered Evidence 1 and attended Prof Ojukwu’s lectures, participated in all class assignments and followed his teaching style. I passed very well. Setbacks and failures are part of life. Face them squarely. At Baze, I got no preferential treatment, and the school enforced rules. I highly recommend the university to aspiring students,” he said.
Chidoka was, however full of praise over the effort of his wife and children in ensuring he completed his program.
He noted, “My wife can’t wait to form a law partnership with me, Chidoka and Chidoka, where she would be the senior partner. Chidinma daalu, for all the support and tutorials, I hope your seniority ends at the bar and not near our bedroom. To my Children, thank you for all the support and be reminded that I will not accept a degree less than a second class upper. If I can do it at old age, you have no excuse.”
