Former St Jude’s helmsman, Onyeulor shines at MIVA Open University, bags First Class

Speaking to journalists, Onyeulor who is currently the National Chairman of the National Council of St Jude’s Uniform Production and Prayer Book Committee, pointed to the three Ds of success which made it possible for him to achieve his vision. He said he was determined to succeed. “I was able to make it because I was determined to succeed. I always have this in mind that there are three Ds of life, Determination, Dedication and Discipline. If you are determined, dedicated to a particular cause, if you maintain discipline because the journey may not be easy, sometimes it may be tough, sometimes a lot of challenges may come your way, but because you are disciplined, you maintain that resilience, every week you must do this or that, you gonna spend four hours a day to study, regardless of how you are and where you are. That is just the only way to go, because that is what I put into what I do, I set goals for myself and within a short possible time I see myself achieving the goals.

With 4.74 Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) Onyeulor was among those who bagged First Class during the convocation ceremony.

Answering questions why he did not win an Award he said, “It surprised me, but I don’t know if the award was giving to those who started with first year, because I started as direct entry. So I don’t know where it is coming from, but let it not be that I am creating an argument here, but obviously I have maintained 5.0 four times, 200 level, 5.0, 300 level, 5.0, and even last semester, 400 level, I had 5.0, so I have been a First Class student right from 200 level to my finals. I am surprised I didn’t get an award as it stands, but that could be the yardstick maybe they are looking at those who started with them from year One to Year Four. I joined as Direct Entry, because I earlier had a degree in NCE, that is what I used to apply.

With First Class in Cyber Security, Onyeulor has deep conviction that the future would offer better and more opportunities. “I am looking at improving, because my current job I do more of Real Estate, but now having a degree in Cyber Security, I am looking at opening another branch of myself, involving myself in a new outlook. So going forward, I want to take up a Master Degree in the same course, so that I will now be able to move up to other responsibilities, combining that with my little knowledge of Real Estate, one needs expansion, just keep expanding.

On his choice of MIVA Open University, he said that the university offers flexibility and opportunity to those who are already working to realize their dream of acquiring university education. “MIVA offers the flexibility, a lot of us want to have good degrees, but we don’t have that time to run through the normal universities where they say they are running distance programme, you come only Saturday and Sunday, and then you have a work that is so dynamic and Saturday and Sunday may not be so easy for you, but in MIVA you can study from anywhere, any time, even in the evening at your own pace.

“Sometimes I woke up about 10 PM, and I study from 10 PM till 2AM, you know in a normal school you can’t get that, you don’t have the opportunity, you must be in the lecture, in some cases if you don’t maintain 75% of lecture attendance you don’t get anything going because you must be there physically. But here once you clock in from anywhere, your lecture begins, you have your video lectures, lecturing you, you can book an hour with the Lecturer, if you are not too clear with a particular thing he is there for you to guide you through what you don’t know. So that is it, it is easy and flexible. So combining your work and any other responsibilities you can still meet up, all you need to do is keep your discipline and keep doing what you needed to do and you will definitely achieve your goals.

On his advice for those who give one reason or the other for not having university education he said, “My advice to them is, education is the key. You must understand that in our world today, there is nobody who achieved anything in life that is not educated. It doesn’t really matter what you do in life, you need a bit of knowledge reshaping what you are doing, because we are living in a fast changing world and the world will keep evolving and if you don’t improve you remain where you are, others would move ahead, that is the reality.

“So my advice to those who are not in school is to take this opportunity that MIVA offers, they are ready to bring it down to you. From your phone, everybody has a phone today, smart phone, so with your smart phone you can actually study at your own pace and achieve whatever you want and augment because knowledge is essential, learning is continuous.”