The Inspiring Story of Seyi Catalyst, How Asiwaju Munirudeen Bola Oyebamiji (AMBO) Sponsored The Boy

By Seyifunmi Odunuga

Yesterday, I matriculated at the University of Ibadan as a Medicine and Surgery (MBBS) student. I want to share my admission story and the blessings that came with it.

I graduated from secondary school (AYEDAADE GRAMMAR SCHOOL, IKIRE, OSUN STATE) in 2023, and that was the year I wrote my first JAMB. My intention then was just to gain experience and prepare well in 2024 for admission. So I prepared casually and scored 274/400, which was the second highest score in my school.

I was very excited because JAMB was overhyped, and such a score was very rare in my environment at that time. Ignorance and lack of exposure made me believe that people who scored 300+ were special geniuses. I thought they were extraordinary people.

I was told 280 was the cut-off mark for MBBS at the University of Ibadan, and I believed it because I didn’t know how the cut-off was actually calculated. I didn’t have any brother or sister who had gained admission before to guide me.

I doubted whether I could gain admission into MBBS with 274, since I heard the cut-off was 280. Like I said earlier, I never prepared for admission in 2023, but the high score changed my decision. So I sat for the UI Post-UTME and scored 64/100. When the cut-off came out, I was far below it.

I wasn’t disappointed because 2024 was what I had originally planned to work toward for my admission.

At that point, I went to work at a filling station where I spent about two months. I left when JAMB 2024 was about two months away. By then, I had already gathered some information about JAMB and UI Post-UTME. I now understood how the cut-off mark was calculated, though I was still ignorant of some things.

I prepared a timetable, but the mistake I made was the little time I spent studying. I studied for exactly 66 days, focusing on reading and past questions. My aim was to score 320, but when the result came out, I scored 298/400.

Actually, I was disappointed, but I later discovered that I could still gain admission into UI MBBS if I scored very well in the Post-UTME.

Do you know what I did?

I went back to the filling station to work for about three months. Then the UI Post-UTME suddenly came around August, and I had only one and a half months to prepare.

We sat for the exam and I scored 68/100. Immediately, I knew MBBS might not be possible that year.

I have financial challenges, and I constantly wondered how I would get money to sponsor this dream because I had no connections. These were part of the reasons I chose the University of Ibadan, because of its transparency and relatively affordable school fees.

People would ask me why I had not gained admission. When I told them MBBS in UI, they would look at me like I was an unserious person who set unrealistic goals for himself. Many people kept saying that connection is what really gives admission in Nigeria.

I heard many discouraging things that could have broken my spirit, and nothing in my physical environment seemed inspiring.

But God made me a person who is adamant with a strong mindset, and that kept me going.

In 2024, I bought a smartphone, which later became my school. My phone was filled with lectures and PDFs. I used it to access many seminars and conferences, and I learned how things are done and the blueprint to excel in JAMB.

In fact, throughout my entire JAMB journey, I never attended any tutorial centre. I turned YouTube into my school, and my phone became my classroom.

Eventually, I discovered that admission in 2024 would not be possible anymore. The University of Ibadan transferred me to some other courses in both 2023 and 2024, but I did not accept them. I strongly believed that I was capable of gaining admission into UI MBBS.

So I started preparing for JAMB 2025 around November 2024, when the exam was about five months away. I learned that if you really want to score 320+, you need a lot of preparation time.

By then, I had been exposed to the right information, which strengthened my belief in the possibility of my admission.

I developed a powerful mindset that I would become the highest scorer or one of the top ten JAMB scorers in Nigeria, no matter what. It felt very real to me. Even today, looking back, I still don’t see it as ignorance.

Although I still feared our financial situation, I was never worried about admission itself. My major concern was how I would sponsor the education.

When the JAMB result came out, I scored 330/400. That was actually below my goal, but we thank God. That was when people and teachers started believing.

Before then, I had heard statements like:

"Maybe you are not destined to become a medical doctor."

But I kept encouraging myself and moving forward.

I later sat for the UI Post-UTME and scored 79/100, which I personally felt was low. But when the cut-off came out, by the grace of God, the impossibility became possible. I beat the cut-off mark and was later given admission into UI MBBS about a month later.

Now the remaining challenge was finance.

We tried our best to pay the acceptance fee first. My parents planned to save money with a cooperative society that would later give them twice the amount, and we would gradually pay back the added half. Unfortunately, those people later changed their decision and said the money would only be distributed around May, while school was to resume on March 2.

At that moment, I became afraid that I might not be able to attend school because of financial constraints.

Although I had been positioning myself for scholarships, many attempts failed. Then I met Ogoloro Presenter Idowu Akinremi , who heard about my situation and made it known to ASIWAJU MUNIRUDEEN BOLA OYEBAMIJI (AMBO).

After hearing my story, he graciously offered me a scholarship to study MBBS to whatever level I desire. It was truly an amazing moment for me.

I would like to use this medium to appreciate ASIWAJU MUNIRUDEEN BOLA OYEBAMIJI (AMBO) for his support and generosity in ensuring that my dream of studying Medicine becomes a reality.

ASIWAJU MUNIRUDEEN BOLA OYEBAMIJI, our incoming Governor. I pray that all his desires will become reality by God's grace.

I also sincerely thank Ogoloro presenter for providing this opportunity. I pray that God will bless you and your family abundantly.

Finally, I thank Almighty God, who made my admission possible — the One who programmed everything.