23-year-old Akan Archibong, who graduated with a first class from the Department of Chemistry, University of Lagos, having scored 4.84 CGPA in the 2015/2016 academic session, in a new interview with Punch, he talks about the journey through school
Read excerpts below
How did your parents receive the news when they heard that you had first class?
My parents are late, but my guardian, lecturers, professors and individuals that God used to finance my education were all very excited. I lost my mum in 2002 while I lost my dad last year. I didn’t live with him before he died, and even for many years back; we lived separately. I was staying with my mum until she died and when there was no means of survival, I had to leave the village for Lagos to serve as a houseboy. The woman I lived with then had a restaurant, so I helped out working there and sometimes I had to hawk sachet water on the street. But I thank God for raising people to help me, such that throughout my education, from secondary to A level and my university education, I enjoyed scholarship.