A 60-year old man Mr Farouk Sannibhas graduated with a first class degree in Sociology at the University of Ibadan, winning eight awards.
Sanni emerged the best graduating student in his department in the ongoing 75th anniversary convocation ceremony of the premier university.
The new graduate, who is a retired banker, said he felt accomplished studying Sociology as he opted for the course with a view to understanding why people behave the way they do.
The sexagenarian revealed that he has studied Accounting at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife imposed by an uncle.
According to him, he took up the challenge to stay healthy and pursue his quest to understand human behaviour after retiring from the United Bank of Africa (UBA).
He sat for the University Matriculation Examination (UTME) again and gained admission for Sociology.
The shining graduand, who bagged eight awards as a result of the feat, said he wrote UTME with his child, who is studying Law at the same university.
Recounting his experience as an undergraduate again, Sanni said: “Studying in a class where you have those who of the same age with your children can be very challenging, but I was magnanimous to accommodate what happened. Some called me daddy, some called me Mr Sanni while some will even say ‘he may be a daddy but he is not my father’. I experienced a lot of things, but as an old person, I was able to remain focused.”
A lecturer at the department, who is also a journalist Dr Oludayo Tade, said he knew Sanni by reason of his age and attitude to work.
He recalled that Sanni had a chair which he tied to a tree where he studied at the Faculty of the Social Sciences.
“This 60-year-old man, Mallam F. K.
Sanni graduated with first class in Sociology, University of Ibadan as the best student in his set, and with that won 8 awards.
” He has two undergraduate children in Ul at the moment. Until he graduated, he picked and dropped his two children at lecture halls, and most of the time, I met him reading under the tree on Saturdays and Sundays.
“On Sallah day, I saw him at his usual reading space under a faculty tree, where he had brought a chair tied to the tree to use whenever he came around.”
-Thenation
