On some occasions there would be words and ideas but little or no time; and on other occasions there would be time but neither words nor ideas. Today, there are words and ideas to share with my colleagues who are “brainically” hotter than fire. It’s barely two weeks ago I wrote a piece centered on the importance of having good grades using Dr. Adedimeji’s words of wisdom. When I posted the piece on Facebook, some of my friends who are “brainically” hotter than the writer aired their opinions as regards the piece. Since then, I’d been mealy-mouthed, promising them that I would come up with another piece that would be geared towards addressing the issues raised by them. The slowness of my tiger is never tantamount to being cowardly. Rather, I actually wanted to address the issue applying a quote credited to Dr. Augustus Tai Solarin. My mentor, Dr. M.A. Adedimeji, as keynote speaker on an occasion organized by the Union of Campus Journalist (UCJ) on the 23rd of March, 2015, quoted Tai Solarin to have said: “if you have been stung by the zeal to write without being stung by the zeal to read you must have been stung by the false zeal”. Going by the aforementioned quote, I had to do a little research in order for me to have some facts which will be used to unveil the veiled on this issue.
Unarguably, what you have on your certificate at the end of your first degree program does not determine your success in life. The fact that Dr. Adedimeji said that if good grades do not lead to success automatically in life, they are closer to success than bad grades, does not mean that those who do not have good grades won’t be successful in life. Sincerely, it is just to encourage us to be academically committed as it is believed that in the academic arena good grades count. Nothing more but ENCOURAGEMENT!
However, Dr. Adedimeji knows that not everybody will be "CGPICALLY" sound, he came up with another opinion which goes thus: “in the digital economy of the 21st century what you study does not actually matter; the world is interested in the excellence in you, what you have to offer.” It’s no news that Funke Akindele studied Law, yet she’s made a wave in the movie industry. Nkem Owoh studied Engineering in the University of Ilorin, he is in the movie industry, among many others who do not earn a living with what they actually studied in the university. They are being paid based on the excellence in them. For everyone, there is something unique in them that makes them different from others. The fact that someone earned First Class Honors does not mean that he will be more successful than those who finished with second class upper/lower. Only the Supreme Being knows the successful ones. The fact that someone is the best graduating student of a department does not make him more successful than the other students. It’s just a privilege!
My friend, know that school rewards people for how retentive their memories are. Life rewards people for their imaginations and innovations. School rewards caution, life rewards daring. School hails those who live by the rules. Life rewards those who break the rules and set new ones.
However, we should not be fully overwhelmed by the fact that majority of wealthy people are not academically outstanding. Let’s try to take a look at the late Bashorun Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola (24th August 1937-7th July1998). He studied Accountancy in Glasgow, Scotland and he finished with First Class, and he also gained a distinction from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland. Despite his being academically outstanding, he was the richest man in Africa in 90s. He started the “struggle” from fetching and selling firewood. He was once a local musician at the age of 16 or so. He was the editor-in-chief for his school magazine, The Trumpeter in Baptist Boys High School, Abeokuta with Olusegun Obasanjo as deputy editor. It was because of his academic excellence that he got employment in ITT (International Telephone & Telegraph), a telecommunication company founded in 1920, in the United States.
My issue with people is that they don’t care to cite MKO as an example. Another example is Mallam Nasir El-rufai. He went to ABU Zaria, earning a Bachelor degree in Quantity Surveying with First Class Honors. He’s the Executive Governor of Kaduna state. In fact, I learned his deputy too earned First Class in Architecture. They both have been friends from undergraduate days. What I always hear is: Dangote didn’t earn First Class; Bill Gate dropped out from school. My question is this: Will everybody be like Dangote and Bill Gate? NO! It is not possible. Let’s try our best first and be consoled when the anticipated results are not commensurate with what we’re actually expecting.
A friend mentioned that in academic arena there are some students who are “brainically hot” but their CGPAs are nothing-to-write-home-about. YES! It is no NEWS! I can encourage them to be determined regardless of what they actually have on their papers as long as it is not self-inflicted. An apt example could be seen in Professor Akinwande Oluwole Soyinka. I don’t think he was that “CGPICLLY” outstanding as an undergraduate. Who is he today? A professor who has taught first class students. Did he bag first class? No!
Always try your best and believe that no matter how hardworking you are, you can’t get more than what you’re destined to get. If one became Usain Bolt, one can’t run faster than his destiny. Those who are academically outstanding are never the best readers; they are just destined to be so. It’s just that when they write exams, their exams are more blessed than the others’. We work, following what we are destined to become. If you are not “CGPICALLY” outstanding in school, then discover yourself and improve your self-value so that you can be "sellable" where CGPA won’t can’t.
At this juncture, I will appreciate some of my friends whose challenging opinions stung me to decide to write another article to address the issue again. Some of them are Mr. Abdulgafar (a.k.a. Tabularasa), Mr. Saheed, Mr. Shiru Lawal, Kolapo Sodiq, amongst others. You all are wonderful! Let’s keep disturbing the keyboard of our laptops/i-pad by writing tirelessly. I appreciate you all. Mr. Folorunsho Fatai, thanks for being there!
Finally, I will still end this by quoting my mentor, Dr. M.A. Adedimeji who said, “if you see 6 and I see 9, it’s a function of where we both stand. No need for name-calling… Disagreement has ethics”. So, this is to say that whatever translation you give to the piece, let it be constructive and inviting for the listeners are always better that the speaker; or rather, the readers are sometimes better than the writer because you read it using your pairs of pragmatic binoculars. I’m very sorry for delaying my response till today. I’ve been very busy. In fact, I wrote it around 2:00am.
If you wouldn’t be forgotten
As soon as you’re dead and rotten
Either write things worth reading
Or do things worth the writing---Benjamin Franklin.
Writer: Salako Hassan
Source:https://larryshotspot..com.ng/2017/01/good-grades-and-bad-grades.html

The best thing a man can do is to graduate with at least a 2:1 or a first class. And if you have done your beat and you fall within a 2:2 accept it and move on with life

It depends on God blessing